Fire's Heart
by AhkneeKitteen
Summary: Rei-centric.Rei Hino is Kagome Higurashi's distant cousing, coming in for a visit.But, what happens when Rei sees Kagome going down the well with Inuyasha late at night?Well, curious Rei does some investigating herself. Chp.13 Up
1. Family Resemblance

Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: It's clear my name isn't Japanese. Okay, so the 'Ahknee' part is Chinese, but who cares about that? And the 'Kitteen' part, that's made up junk just there for fun. So, animes are Japanese oriented. Get it? Good. If you don't, then you are horribly stupid, cause I'm American/Chinese, bub, and I dun have enough money to do anime.)  
  
Okay, so, this idea hit me just before I fell asleep a few nights ago. Phwee! Okay, I need sugar, big deal. *yawns*  
  
Anywho, this is just the prolouge of sorts, so, if a bunch of people like this, then I'll continue with it eventually, like, after I finish one or two of my other fics. But don't expect this to be updated soon if you like it! If barely anyone likes it, then this thing is going to be deleted within one week of it's posting. If everyone likes it, then it'll be updated in the future.  
  
Now that we have that done and over with, onto the fic.  
  
Summary- Rei Hino is Kagome Higurashi's distant cousing, coming in for a visit. But, what happens when Rei sees Kagome going down the well with Inuyasha late at night? Well, curious Rei does some investigating herself. KEY:  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
(author's notes)  
  
*******  
  
'If everything is coincidense, then how come some things fall into place with eachother?'  
  
*******  
  
Rei entered the Hikawa Shrine, ready to take a short break form school that day before starting up any of her daily chores.  
  
Hearing a slight noise to her left, where good luck charms were purchased, she saw a group of giggling teenage girls, all happy and bubbly and filled with energy. They were still dressed in their school uniforms, and were currently being bribed into helping with work at the shrine by Rei's grandfather, who went simply by 'Grandpa'. (Notice how in the manga her grandpa looks completely different and isn't a pervert while in the anime he is? *sigh* Guess he's comic relief.)  
  
With a loud sigh, Rei marched up to where she was right behind her guardian and glared at his back before letting out a cry of:  
  
"GRANDPA!!!!"  
  
causing the old man to jump a few feet in the air before turning around.  
  
"Just what do you think you're doing?"Rei asked, keeping her temper yet gritting her teeth.  
  
"Oh, just seeing if these lovely young ladies want to help around the shrine or buy some of these nice charms!"he replied.  
  
Rei proceeded to glare at the old man before turning a clamer gaze at the girls.  
  
"So, how may I help you?"she asked, shoving her grandpa away.  
  
"Oh, we were just browsing, actually! We just wanted to know which charms are the best."one said.  
  
"Oh. Well, if that's all, then I really must be going, I have things to do here."Rei said, smiling as much as she would allow herself as she began to usher the girls out of the grounds.  
  
*******  
  
Rei sighed as she plopped down on a bench, letting the broom she held in her hands clatter to the ground at her feet.  
  
"I really need a break."she murmmered, grumbling something about how she was overworked.  
  
"Rei!"  
  
Sighing she looked up to see Usagi running towards her.  
  
"Nani?"the Shinto preistess-in-training asked, looking at the blonde running towards her.  
  
"Well, I ran into Grandpa on my was up here, literally, and after a bit of hassle, he finally said that I should give this letter to you!"Usagi said, coming to a screeching halt in front of the raven-haired beauty.  
  
"Who's it from?"Rei asked, snatching the letter the blonde was waving around.  
  
"I dunno. From the Higurashi family, from what I glanced on it."Usagi shrugged.  
  
"Higuarshi family?!"Rei perked up and ripped open the envelope, pulling the letter out from inside it and reading it as fast as possible.  
  
"So?"Usagi asked once the priestess' eyes stopped scanning th page.  
  
"They want me to stay at their shrine for the next month to help teach my cousin how to b a responsible caretaker for a shrine. . . . . ."Rei trailed off.  
  
"Ooh. Spiffy! What's your cousin's name?"Usagi asked. (Don't ask why I made her say spiffy, I say that all the time.)  
  
"Kagome. I haven't seen them since my mother died, actually. They came to the funeral and I only talked with them for a while. I don't remember them much, though."Rei shrugged.  
  
"Well, that's nice! Oh, and what else was I suppsed to tell you. . . . . .?"Usagi paused, tapping her inde finger on her chin while thinking hard.  
  
Rei proceeded to deadpan while sweatdropping as the blonde continued thinking.  
  
"Oh! Ami said that she wanted to hold a study meeting at. . . . . .five tomorrow, after school."  
  
"Well, I'm supposed to leave at about six tomorrow, so we'll have to cut it to thirty minutes of study time."Rei said, scanning over the letter.  
  
"Oh. Well, I'll make sure to tell her that!"Usagi said turning around and beginning to jog away.  
  
"Wait! Why didn't you just call to tell me this??"Rei demanded.  
  
"Oh, I have to go do some grocery shopping for home! See, here's the lis- Hey, where'd the list go?!?! Aw, man, I'm dead. . . . ."USagi groaned as she ran off.  
  
Rei sighed, shaking her head and sweatdropping as she watched the retreating figure of her friend.  
  
*******  
  
"Okay, study tim'e over, folks! I have to get going if I wanna get to my cousin's on time.:Rei said, slamming shut her book and standing up.  
  
"Aa. We're leaving, we're leaving."Ami said, standing, along with Makoto and Minako. Usagi was asleep.  
  
"Odango-atama, WAKE UP!"Rei screeched in the blonde's ear, casuing her to jump up and land face-first on the floor.  
  
"Itai! Rei, what was that for?!"Usagi gasped, sitting up and rubbing her face.  
  
"You have to leave, NOW! So get going!"Rei screeched, pointing to the door.  
  
"Fine, fine."Usagi whined, pouting, standing, gathering her things and leaving with the others.  
  
Rei sighed as she rushed to her room to grab her bags.  
  
*******  
  
Rei gulped as she stepped out of the cab. She wasn't exactly sure how to greet such distant family, and she had no idea if these relatives were nice or evil.  
  
Stepping up to the gates, her things in hand, she pushed a button which caused a small ding to chime through the shrine.  
  
'Doorbell. How nice.'Rei thought dryly.  
  
A few people came out of the house; an old man, a teenage girl, a young boy, and what appeared to be a mother or housewife.  
  
The boy was first to reach the gates and he slid them open to let the young girl in.  
  
Rei smiled at the boy before stepping in and setting her cases on the ground as the others reached her.  
  
"Rei, how nice to see you again!"the woman stated, walking up and hugging the raven-haired girl. "Call me Mom!"  
  
"Hello."Rei stated back meekly, hugging back.  
  
"Hello!"the old man greeted, bowing. "Call me Grandpa."  
  
"Hi."Rei also bowed.  
  
"Hey!"the boy said. "I'm Souta!"  
  
"Hello!"Rei said, sticking out her hand and shaking hands with the boy.  
  
Rei turned to the lsat person, shocked slightly at how much she resembled herself.  
  
"Uh. . . .I'm. . . .Kagome."the girl stated, also shocked by their resemblance.  
  
Rei recovered quickly, smiling. "Rei. Amazing how family resemblance just seems to happen between us, eh?"  
  
"Yeah."Kagome smiled.  
  
'Don't tell me we have another Kikyou reincarnation. . . . . .'Kagome thought, continuing to smile.  
  
Rei suddenly picked up a feeling from the nearby wellhouse, so she turned to it.  
  
"What's in there?"Rei asked politely, nodding her head towards the wellhouse.  
  
"Oh, just an old, dry well. We just use the place to store old things we never use! It can get pretty dangerous, so stay out of there!"Grandpa explained.  
  
"Oh. I see."Rei said, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly, making a mental note to investigate it later that night, when everyone was asleep.  
  
"Well, how about we go inside to get reaquianted?"Mom said, grabbing one of Rei's bags.  
  
"That's a good idea to me."Rei smiled, grabbing another one of her bags as Souta and Kagome grabbed some, too.  
  
*******  
  
"So, I'm here to help Kagome with her training in becoming a priestess?"Rei aske,d fingers wrapped lightly around a cup of steaming Jasmine tea.  
  
"Aa."Grandpa replied.  
  
"Well, I'm not sure how I can really help, seeing as I've only been following the Shinto religion. . . . ."Rei said, sipping her tea.  
  
"Oh, you can help in every way possible!"Mom said happily.  
  
Rei sighed, closing her eyes temporarily.  
  
"Do you have a. . . . .Sarced Flame anywhere around here? It helps me meditate sometimes, and I do so often."Rei asked, eyes still closed.  
  
"No, we don't."Granpa replied.  
  
"Oh. Well, I guess I'll manage."Rei said, opening her eyes again and smiling at everyone. "May I go up and rest a little? I'm a bit tired, having just come from a study session and then traveling."  
  
"Of course. You know where your room is already, so just head up there."  
  
"Aa. Arigatou."Rei said, standing and bowing before heading towards the stairs. She turned around just as she placed a foot on the lower step. "Will I need to help any around the shrine? I'm used to do chores and such, so I wouldn't mind."  
  
"Oh, iie, iie. No need to. We can handle everything, you just help Kagome."  
  
Rei nodded and continued up the stairs.  
  
*******  
  
At about twelve midnight, Rei stirred after feeling a slightly. . . .demonic prescence near the house.  
  
Standing up from her bed and grabbing her henshin pen, Rei padded out of the room with stealth only one with years of training in combat could muster.  
  
With some speed she raced down the hallway, making sure to move as fast as possible, least there be any loose floorboards that groaned loudly under her weight.  
  
Arriving at the bottom of the stpes, she ran out of the house via some sliding screen doors and made a mad dash for some bushes to peer from.  
  
A light flickered on in Kagome's room and, just as suddenly, it flicked off, and something with long, silverish hair, jumped down with Kagome on its back, judging from the black locks that could be seen in the few rays of moonlight.  
  
Rei stared even harder at the two and made out just what was carrying Kagome to the ground. Kagome hopped off of its back, allowing it to finaly stand straight, giving Rei the pefect opportunity to peek at the face.  
  
And it looked like a teenage boy, a teenage boy who was very angry at the world in general, with dog. . .ears. . .on. . .his. . . .head. . . . .  
  
Rei blinked, shocked at this and wondering what was with the ears, deciding they must be fake.  
  
The two walked to the wellhouse and stepped in, and a faint blueish light could be seen through the loose walls.  
  
Rei, being curious, stood up and walked to the wellhouse, carefully stepping inside and looking down the well.  
  
Nobody was there. . . . .  
  
Rei's eyes widened as she looked around, wondering where the two had gone. Was there a trap door? Was there a secret entrance or exit?  
  
Many such questions ran through Rei's head before she finally cleared them, deciding to try and find the aura of this thing. . . . .it had that strange energy, so why not try and see what it was now?  
  
Sitting down, Rei ran a finger over the edge of the well and closed her eyes, preparing to go into a trance to see what this well did.  
  
And her mind flooded with visions. Visions of demons, battle, blood, and much more.  
  
Rei's eyes shot open and blnked rapidly before standing up an regaining her compsure. Keeping her henshin pen tight in her hand, she put one foot on the ledge of the well, then the other. With a long sigh and big hopes, she jumped down, hoping that this was just a dream.  
  
The blue light flashed and enveloped her as she was absorbed into the time stream itself, in ways.  
  
*******  
  
Rei blinked as she felt her feet suddenly touch down on the ground again. Stumbling slightly, she found herself clinging to vines.  
  
A sickening CRUNCH came from under her feet, causing her to look down. Bones.  
  
More bones.  
  
And it hit her when she thought about it more. Eyes widening, she scrambled up the vines and to the top of the well flinging herself out.  
  
Gasping and panting to regain the air she had lost from nearly hyperventilating (apparently that's my new favorite word, ever since. . . .*cough* the picture incident. . . .*coughcoughsplutter*), she sat up and looked around.  
  
Trees. Trees. Trees. Bushes. Undergrowth. Trees. Trees. Hey, guess what? More trees!  
  
'Toto, we're not in Kanses anymore.'Rei thought dryly, standing up and beginning to look around for a place to go. Spotting a path, a very hidden path but nontheless a path, she headed towards it, hoping to find some familiar landmark somwhere, telling her this was either a dream or some hallucination or to at least prove she wasn't lost.  
  
Yes, this was going to be a long night.  
  
*******  
  
*coughs* Um well, there is the prolouge thingy. Anywho, in other terms, review and tell me if you did or didn't like this fic. Depending on how many people actually think this story is great will tell me whether I should or shouldn't continue this fic.  
  
I don't have any type of spellchecks or anything, so no getting on my case for anything I misspelled. Yes, I DID check over this thing before posting it, so ha. Though, if I did miss anything, then please, do point it out as constructive critism, because flames are going to be used to keep me warm this winter.  
  
Anywho, review, and I'll give you cookies. Phwee! Otherwise, for the girls, bishounen plushies, and for the guys, bishoujo plushies. Yay!  
  
Now, contact me at:  
  
ahknee@greenthunder.zzn.com  
  
Or at:  
  
ahknee@3-lights.zzn.com  
  
I really don't use the second address at much, but hey, do so if you must!  
  
Oh, and my AIM screen name is:  
  
AhkneeKitteen  
  
Okay, so, now that that is all said and done, ja ne minna-san!! *waves* 


	2. Firey Lies and Tales

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: YEah, if I owned any of the animes or characters from any of the animea mentioned in here, my computer wouldn't have just crashed on me a minute ago, right when I was well on my way with this fic!! Meaning I would have a better computer, meaning that, since I don't, I only own the plot.)  
  
*glares at her computer darkly* Y'know, I hate this piece of sh-  
  
*random passerby says 'Shiny day!'*  
  
*blinks* Who the hell-  
  
"random passerby says 'Hello!'*  
  
This is giving me a strange sense of deja vu. . . . . .  
  
*blink*  
  
Anywho, no review responses since it might waste too much time and space. @.@ Maybe next time.  
  
And yes, I have finally come up with a title. A cheesy one, but a title nontheless. Ha!  
  
Okay, people are already voting for who they want to be with who. . . . . .*blinks and looks at the votes so far*  
  
Re/Sesshoumaru - 1  
  
Rei/Inuyasha - 1  
  
Well, 'tis a tie so far, so you guys can all vote and see if you can persuade me to lean towards a certain couple, if you want. . .*sweatdrops as people shove in their votes at her*  
  
Oh, before I forget, here are the plushies I promised! *grabs a plain looking sack on the ground next to her and pulls it open, holds it up and turns it over, shaking out the plushies*  
  
There! Oh, what's this. . . . .*spots a spiffy plushie and takes it for herself, promptly huggling it, causing the plushie to make a face*  
  
Onto the show! Er, fic! Er. . .whatever. *Sweatdrop*  
  
KEY:  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
(author's notes)  
  
The KEY shall be done every four chapters from now on.  
  
*******  
  
Rei sighed as the path before her grew less and less visible in the dimming light through the small gaps of the trees surrounding the path she was pacing upon.  
  
With another sigh, she dug around in a pocket in her outfit, pulling out one of her handy ofudas. Begining a chant, the ofuda burst into flames, not scathing the girl for the flame was centered at the top of the sheet.  
  
With the path ahead illuminated slightly better, Rei continued on her (un)merry way.  
  
*******  
  
"Osuwari!"Kagome yelled, causing Inuyasha to make a visit with his recent friend, the ground, who he then proceeded to teach some of his colorful language.  
  
Kagome fumed and stomped off to Kaede's hut, ready for some sleep.  
  
'He's always so. . .such a. . . .baka!'she thought, fuming even more. {baka=fool, idiot}  
  
Meanwhile, back to Inuyasha, he was just now prying his face from the ground.  
  
Spitting out some dirt from his mouth, Inuyasha perked up at a sound coming from the path leading to the well.  
  
Turning his head, he looked to see what exactly was coming out of the path.  
  
And out stepped a teenage girl, bearing remarkable resemblance to Kagome, with a slip of paper burning in one hand and a strange stick in the other.  
  
She seemed to have sensed his eyes boring into her, for she stopped surveying her surroundings and looked back.  
  
Rei hadn't been expecting to see anything familiar, even a person, after going through that path.  
  
Imagine her surprise when she found the same dog boy that had taken Kagome standing there.  
  
At first, she was slightly shocked, then she decided that waiting to see if he would be the first to say or do anything would be a good idea.  
  
"Who the hell are you??"he asked, narrowing his eyes.  
  
"I. . . .am I."Rei said smartly, quoting what Chibi Chibi had told Usagi.  
  
Inuyasha puzzled over that statement for a second before realizing it was a trick.  
  
"Hey! Give me your name!"he growled.  
  
"Hmmm. . . . ."Rei paused to look like she was contemplating the matter,". . .Nah, I don't think I will."  
  
"What?! Why you little-"  
  
"Inuyasha!!"a new voice yelled. "Osuwari!"  
  
Rei cringed as she saw the necklace around Inuyasha's neck glow before forcing him to meet the ground face-first.  
  
'That has to hurt. . . .'she thought, turning to face the person who had driven her berbal opponent into the ground.  
  
"R-rei?!?"Kagome stuttered a bit as Rei turned to face the girl.  
  
"Kagome?"Rei asked, also a bit shocked.  
  
"W-what are you doing here?"Kagome asked.  
  
"I'd like to ask you the same question."Rei snorted.  
  
"Guys, what's going on out here?"Sango asked, poking her head out of Kaede's hut, Miroku's following hers.  
  
"That's what I'd like to know."Inuyasha snorted.  
  
Suddenly Sango blushed a deep red color before a loud 'HENTAI!' echoed through the village followed by a resounding SMACK. {Hentai=big pervert}  
  
Rei blinked and sweatdropped as she watched the before scene happen.  
  
'Cripes, this is one strange place. . . .'she thought.  
  
". . . . . . .Sooo, anyone know any good icebreakers?"Rei spoke up suddenly, breaking the resounding silence.  
  
Kagome stiffled a laugh at this as the others just blinked slightly, not exactly getting the icebreaker part. . . .  
  
"Well, we have a bit of explaining to do, so I guess we had better go inside someplace and start talkin'."Rei shrugged, not really up to explaining.  
  
"Okay, then let's go."  
  
*******  
  
". . . .and that is the story."Kagome finished.  
  
Rei nodded slightly, pondering how she should phrase her own story. Since no regular human could go through that well, they must suspect something about her already, so she had no clue how to start.  
  
"Well. . . . .,"began Rei,"It started out when I was fourteen years old."  
  
She paused to try and think of words to place without giving away her identity.  
  
"Everyday was pretty much normal, until busses started disappearing after coming to the shrine. Everyone who had family members on the busses came and complained to us about it, even though we had nothing to do with the busses.  
  
Around that same time, a new helper volunteered to help at the shrine, and he had these. . . .horrible, icy blue eyes. He gave me the creeps.  
  
Also, a few days into the disappearing busses, a blonde haired girl with the most strange hairstyle showed up at the shrine, hoping to buy some good luck charms for love. She was with a couple of her friends. I ended up tossing one of my ofudas at the poor blonde, knocking her out."Rei smiled at the memory.  
  
"Anywho, she came and went, and busses continued disappearing around the same time each day, one a day. One day, the blonde comes back to my shrine with her little black cat, and I find this. . . .strange pen on the ground."Rei brandished her henshin pen to the group.  
  
"Anywho, it eventually ends up with me gaining a bit of. . .power, and I help around with defeating the people who made the busses disappear. That's it, basically. No signs of magic anymore. . . .Unless you count the ofudas and fire readings, but. . .that's it."she finished, happy with herself at barely giving much away.  
  
Inuyasha scowled, glaring at the raven haired lookalike of Kagome.  
  
"You're lying."he growled.  
  
Rei blinked, wondering how he knew.  
  
"How can I be? I gave you the story."she said.  
  
"I can smell it."he growled again.  
  
Rei sighed.  
  
"You want the truth? I don't think you even want to know the truth. . . . . ."Rei sighed, shaking her head.  
  
"But we told you our story!"Shippou exclaimed, suddenly seeming wide awake from the nap he had taken just a second ago.  
  
". . . . .Fine."Rei sighed, running a hand through her hair and grabbing her cup of steaming tea, drinking from it.  
  
"Kagome, you've heard of the Sailor Senshi, ne?"she asked.  
  
Kagome nodded furiously.  
  
Rei smirked. "Thought so. Well, I'm Sailor Mars, plain and simple."  
  
Kagome's jaw proceeded to drop.  
  
"I'm lost. . . . ."Sango said, blinking in slight confusion.  
  
"The Sailor Senshi are super heroines with powers over the elements who help defend the world from evil and stuff like that."Rei shrugged. "I'm guessing that since you've never heard of them, they don't exist in this time. But I don't know why they would, seeing as the Queen sent us to a time where we were supposed to live normal lives and all. . . . ."  
  
"Queen?"Kagome asked.  
  
"Queen Serenity X. The great ruler of the Moon Palace. I'd brief you on the history, but it takes too long and Usagi is the only one who can really use her powers to show flashbacks of the place."Rei shrugged again, not really wanting to re-live the tale anyway.  
  
"We have plenty of time."Miroku said.  
  
"Well. . . . ."Rei paused, "We should get some sleep tonight since you are supposed to go traveling tomorrow morning, ne? I can tell you then, and afterwards we can form a plan for me to go home."  
  
"Sounds good to me."Kagome yawned. "All these late nights are taking a toll on me."  
  
"I'm actually used to staying up this late."Rei shrugged. "Youma attacks in the city and stuff this late, and all. But a nice night of undisturbed sleep sounds nice."  
  
"Then let's sleep."Kagome yawned.  
  
*******  
  
Rei was abrputly awakened the next morning by the sounds of a fight. Yawning and sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stood up, glancing down at her old clothes from yesterday. Maybe she could just borrow some from this time or something. . . .  
  
Standing up and observing her surroundings in the now-empty hut, she already found some new clothes, some robes like the ones she wore at the shrine doing chores, laid out and neatly folded next to her bed.  
  
Sighing, she stood up and snatched the clothes, knowing that she needed a nice, refreshing bath now anyway.  
  
Her greeting when stepping out of the doorway was finding Inuyasha face first on the ground in her path. Shrugging nonchalantly, she stepped right on the middle of his back like it was no big deal and continued on her way to find Kagome and ask her where a spring to bath in might be.  
  
She found Kagome fuming silently on the other side of the hut.  
  
"Hey, Kagome. . . .?"Rei ventured, causing the girl's head to snap her way.  
  
"Yes?"asked the other girl.  
  
"Where's a spring I can shower in?"  
  
"Oh? Uh, let me come with you, who knows if Miroku might show up. . . .Might wanna grab Sango too, she can keep watch with me."  
  
"Um. . .Ookay."Rei blinked.  
  
"So, how's life been for you?"Kagome asked over her shoulder, keeping a good eye trained on the woods for any peeping toms.  
  
"Fine. . . .Despite the occasional villian or villianess going around town saying 'I'm going to take over this measly town/city/world/galazy/universe mwahahahahaha!', but hey, you get it."Rei shrugged, grabbing the robes and quickly slipping them on and shaking her hair dry.  
  
"And it's safe to turn around now."Rei added in, flipping her wet hair over her shoulder.  
  
Kagome turned around and blinked in a bit of shock.  
  
'Cripes, she look just like Kikyou. . . . .'she thought, staring for a second.  
  
Rei huffed slightly at being stared at and snapped, "Hey, would you mind not staring? I don't swing that way."  
  
Kagome blushed and sweatdropped, "Gomen, gomen, you just reminded me of someone I know. . .knew. . . .whatever."  
  
Rei blinked and shrugged. "Whatever. And we need to get back to camp, anyway. Aren't you guys supposed to set out soon?"  
  
*******  
  
Meanwhile, back in Kagome's and Rei's time, Kagome's grandpa was freaking out about Rei's sudden disappearance.  
  
And he was on the phone with Rei's grandpa, thus resulting in some interesting excuses on why she couldn't come answer the phone.  
  
"May I speak to Rei?"Rei's grandpa asked.  
  
"Uh. . .uh. . .She's. . . . .Busy!"Kagome's grandpa replied.  
  
"Why is she busy?"  
  
"She's. . . ..uh. . . .Helping Kagome with her homework!"  
  
"Well, can I talk to her for just a minute? Her friends also want to say hi to her."  
  
"Um. . .Er. . . .Well, she's going to take a shower now!"  
  
"Well, I guess that's liable. . . . .Okay, I'll call back in an hour!"  
  
"Okay Ja ne."Kagome's grandpa sighed into the reciever, placing the phone back on its cradle.  
  
'I hope he doesn't call again. . . .'Kagome's grandpa thought wearily, hoping that he could come up with more excuses just in case before the next call.  
  
And, as if to spite the old man, the phone rang again.  
  
*******  
  
Gwah!! That was chapter two for you!! Hahaha. *cough* Um, well, I checked over it, and I hope I didn't miss anything, but, seeing as I usually do, I might as well check again. . . . . .  
  
Okay, done checking. *grin* Well, review and you'll make me a very happy authoress. Ooh, and the more you review, the more probable it will be that I'll update within the month! *nodnod* Yeah, that ought to be some encouragement for you readers to start reviewing, if you didn't already!  
  
Anywho, review and you'll get a collection, yes, I said a COLLECTION, of bishounen/bishoujo plushies. Mwahahaha!  
  
Oh, and remember, you can vote for the couples if you want to try and persuade me to make this a romance. *nudgenudgewinkwink* 


	3. Getting Lost and The Voice

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: If I owned anything of importance, I could actually pay somebody to come up with titles for my fics. And, if I DID come up with Sailor Moon or Inuyasha or any of either's characters, then I'd be rich enough to afford someone who could come up with a title for this fic, but, seeing as this is a FANfiction, why, if I was to own any of the mentioned animes, would I be typing such? So, with that said, you get the picture.)  
  
Hmmm. . . . .*glances at reviews* Not as many as last time, I see. . . . .Oh well. *shrug* There were actually about as many. ^__^  
  
Okay, no flames for this fic the last time I checked. Yay! *dancedance*  
  
Erm. . . .Back on track. . . . . . .I want to thank everyone who reviewed, and to all of you nice reviewers, the bags of plushies are over in the corner, with labels on what anime characters are in which. I think I stuck a few real-life bishies in there, too. *nodnod*  
  
Okay, now, onto the fic! Oh, wait, I need to do review responses. . . . .Tee hee. . . .*sweatdrop*  
  
Chapter one responses:  
  
Sadie Joyce Myst Lady -Yosh, thanks! And yes, true true.  
  
The thing that happened to my Hotaru/Ash fic is. . . . . .Writer's block came up and knocked me unconcious, therefore making me forget any ideas on how to make a path for my fic to go on. *sigh* But hey, what's a girl to do? I'll try to update that eventually, if not re-write the last few chapters.  
  
libra071988 - O.o Gee. . . . .You really think this rocks? Wow, thanks! Yes, yes, I know, I see the point.  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Well, last chapter answered your question. ^__^ And Sesshoumaru is in here, don't worry your head off about him not being in here! Why wouldn't I include one of my favorite bishounen in a fic, anyway?  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - Oh, and I just had Skittles in English last period. XD I should suggest that name to my friend to use as her name for Halloween. . . .She's gonna be the sugar fairy. XD Woot, glad you enjoyt this so much!  
  
Ancient Legend - . . . . .Not a person a many words, eh?  
  
Sushi - XD Nice name! Glad you like it!  
  
Dreamer Grle - Yay, glad you think this is a really good story!  
  
Firenze - Well, you got that bishounen plushie, so I hope you continue to enjoy this fic!  
  
Lady Light - Gee, glad you're enjoying this!  
  
fergiaj - Hope I got your name right. . . . .And glad you like this!  
  
Lily - Thankies! And you'll just have to see. . . . .  
  
Pheniox Rose - I you it? and you'd like to read more? Well, here's more!  
  
Kagona - Jazzers, Jazzers, Jazzers, you are too busy of a person!! Get ready to go on a reviewing spree, girl, 'cause I'm on a roll with this fic (which probably disappoints you, seeing as you have another fic of mine you want me to update and finally finish. . . . .)!  
  
lady pyro1 - Okay, well, sorry to say, hun, but you are a bit alone on that vote. . . .Oh well, let's see where this fic goes romance-wise, seeing as I'm writing this blindly. X.x  
  
Meta Lise - Yay, my fic has potential! *dancedance* Glad you are so interested. *nodnod*  
  
Hao-sama rulze the world (or Lina Hino) - O.o Whoah, looks like I just found a devoted fan for this fic. . . . . .*gently kicks you from of her feet so you stop kissing her shoes* Gomen, but I'm a modest person here, kinda, so I don't like THAT much attention drawn to me. . . . .^___^ Well, looks like we've come to an understanding with eachother. *nodnod*  
  
Chapter two responses:  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Okay, okay, you've convinced me! I'll make it a romance already, sheesh.  
  
Purpleeyes - Rei and. . . . .Sango? O.o Interesting. . . . . . .*blink* Shoujo-ai. . . . . . . . .*blink* I dunno, it might happen, it might not. . . . . .  
  
Firenze - Gee, glad you liked the last chapter so much!  
  
Lady Light - . . . . . .Wow, that actually wouldn't be surprisng, now that I think about it. . . .O.o  
  
libra071988 - *blink* And you are nearly alone in that vote, I see. *blink* Eh, we'll see.  
  
GothicVampireWitch - Yipes, talk about your enthusiastic fans. . . . .O.o Okay, we'll see!  
  
lady pyro1 - Er, 'kay. . . . .  
  
Kagona - Well, glad you seem to be enjoying this so much, Jazzers. XD Okay, I'll shut up now. ^_^  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - Yeah, you're a devoted fan! Well, at least I hope you are. Anywho, I agree with you on the icy calm and raging fire thing on Sesshoumaru and Rei. *nodnod*  
  
sacred tenshi - Well, we'll just have to see. *wink*  
  
Mars Lover - O.o Woot, you have to be the person with the longest review in this fic yet. XD Oooh, nice pairing suggestion. *grin* I think that could be pretty interesting, maybe I'll do another fic on it someday (if this does turn out to have Rei/Sesshoumaru). Poor you, though, 'cause you're nearly alone on this vote. *pats your head* Well, maybe I'll just have to make another fic dedicated to the pair you suggested sometime!  
  
Meta Lise - Okay, let's see where this'll head in the romance parts. *strikes a pose*  
  
*whistle* Well, since so many people want some lovin' in this fic, there will be some! . . . . .Not in the hentai, R-rated matter, though, you perverted people.  
  
Aww, eww, y'know what I found in my tea after I woke up from my nap Friday? (slow song. . .By Ayumi Hamasaki, called Dearest. . .Sleepy. . . . .)? *sigh* A big ol' misquito in my tea!! Ewww.  
  
*******  
  
Votes for pairings!!! Polls still open to those who HAVEN'T voted! If you have, then you can't vote again. And, it appears the Rei/Sesshoumaru pairing is in the lead!!  
  
Rei/Inuyasha - 3  
  
Rei/Sesshoumaru - 6  
  
Rei/Sango (O.o) - 1  
  
Rei/Kouga - 1  
  
Kagome/Inuyasha - 3  
  
Sesshoumaru/Rin (O.o Why the heck would he get with her?? She's just a kid, dang. . . . ) - 1  
  
*******  
  
Rei quietly sat in front of a glowing fire, silently watchin the flames burst up and dance around the air.  
  
Stuck in the middle of Sengoku Jidai with Kagome and company wasn't all that bad, Rei could deal with anything thrown at her, she could outlive anything in this place and beat them up no problem. . . .Well, at least she hoped she could.  
  
Kagome had wanted her to go home, but Inuyasha had wanted to get on with the journey and insisted that she either stayed with Kaede in the village or come with them.  
  
Rei hadn't wanted to go at first, but when she refused, Inuyasha had asked if she was afraid of all the big bad demons running around, which got her short fuse flaring dangerously. In an attempt to prove herself stronger than Inuyasha assumed she was, she gladly accepted, just to spite him and show him what she could do.  
  
And now she was stuck, dirty in these old robes from that dead woman Kikyou- which greatly disturbed her-and traveling around this old Japan.  
  
Life at this moment sucked.  
  
Yawning, Rei stood up.  
  
"I'm beat, night folks."she yawned again, "I just need to wash up a little and then I'll be back."  
  
"Okay, goodnight Rei!"Kagome said cheerfully, waving the girl off to wash up.  
  
"YEah, see everyone in the morning."Rei said, heading off to a nearby stream to wash up.  
  
Arriving at the stream, Rei sat down and tore some cloth from her outfit, dipping it in the water and pulling it out, wringing out the cloth and wetting her face with her. She'd have to deal with cleaning her face like this for a while, so who cared what she did. . . . . .  
  
Whoah, wait, were those footsteps behind her? Rei perked up as her ears caught the noise, ever so quiet yet still there.  
  
Eyes narrowing, her hand automatically reached for her henshin stick and pulling it out, ready to use it at any given moment.  
  
Rei kept watching out of the corner of her eyes, in complete aware mode, ready for anything, and pretended not to notice anything for a moment.  
  
After a few moments of silence, Rei slowly turned her head, not really afraid of whatever was in the bushes.  
  
"Come out!"she calmly spoke, "I know you're there!"  
  
The bushes made no sound, the only sound being that of Rei's soft breathing and the stream's water.  
  
With a low sigh of frustration at whoever, or whatever, was playing hide- and-seek with her in the bushes, she stood up and walked into the bushes, scanning for anything that made the noise.  
  
After a bit of walking around, she found a young girl sitting against a tree, some of her black hair tied up in a ponytail on the side of her head. She was staring up at Rei with wide, brown eyes and had several missing teeth, from what Rei could tell from the way her mouth hung open.  
  
"Who are you?"Rei asked, bending down to ask the girl in her nicest voice.  
  
"Rin."the girl replied.  
  
"Rin, eh? Nice to meet you. What are you doing out here all alone?"  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama sent Rin out to get firewood."Rin replied, speaking in third-person, reminding Rei of Chibi-Chibi with a wider vocabulary.  
  
"Well, I see you have some. . . . .So why don't you go back to your camp?"Rei asked.  
  
"R-rin doesn't know the way back. Rin is lost."Rin replied, hanging her head. "If Rin doesn't get back soon, Sesshoumaru-sama might get mad."  
  
Rei blinked. "Well. . . . .I could help you find your way back if you want."  
  
"O-okay."Rin murmmered, grabbing the firewood she had collected from the ground, Rei helping her by grabbing a few herself, and trailing in front of the girl, holding one of her hands.  
  
After a bit of walking, a warm light caught Rei's attention and she asked Rin if this was her camp. Rin nodded.  
  
"Want me to walk you into camp?"Rei asked, "To help you carry in the firewood, of course."  
  
"Um. . . .Rin doesn't know if Sesshoumaru-sama will allow it."Rin hesitated.  
  
Rei gave the young girl a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I can handle myself, and I can hlep you if I need to."  
  
"Y-yes, ma'am."  
  
Rei smiled and followed Rin into the camp, where Rei paused, staring at the people seated around the campfire. . . .Well, at least the semi-people.  
  
There was an ugly little toad poking at the fire, trying to keep the flames large.  
  
Then there was this. . . .Man, as much as Rei could determine from the way his eyes held the stubborn 'I'm all high and mighty' that most men she knew wore. He was. . . .breathtaking.  
  
Rei blinked.  
  
'Breathtaking? What the heck am I thinking?'  
  
He held an air of grace and poise about him that demanded respect, no matter what, it seemed.  
  
"Sesshoumaru-sama. . . . ."Rin squeaked, placing the firewood at the feet of the toad before running up to him, "Rin made a friend!"  
  
Sesshoumaru stared at Rin for a second before slowly turning his head, in the most graceful way, Rei noted, towards Rei, as if just now acknoledging her prescence.  
  
"Who are you?"he demanded, his voice giving way that he was indeed a man.  
  
"I am. . . . .Rei."Rei said slowly, not sure if she should exactly trust such a. . . . .cold man. 'He seems dangerous.'  
  
"Give me your full name, woman."he commanded.  
  
Rei stared back defiantly at him before starting, "I don't think I should just give you my name, I mean, I've just met you! Why should I trust you enough to give you my name?"  
  
Sesshoumaru just stared icily back at her, not even fazing her.  
  
"You dare defy me?"he asked finally.  
  
"Yeah, what about it?"Rei shot back, glaring at him.  
  
"No human has lived long after defying me. . . . ."he said.  
  
Rei blinked. Well, she wasn't exactly human, so. . . .  
  
"What if I'm not exactly the most human?"she asked.  
  
"I do not smell any demon in you, so you are human in my eyes."  
  
"Well, I'm not completely human, bud! And I'll glady wipe the floor, er, dirt with you if I had the time!"Rei said, her firey temper beginning to flare.  
  
Sesshoumaru just gave her an odd look this time.  
  
"What?! What did I say?! Is something funny?!"Rei demanded, glaring at him.  
  
"I'm the Lord of the Western lands, woman, and I'd gladly like to see you try and 'wipe the dirt' with me."he said, an amused glint in his eyes.  
  
Rei fumed even more. This guy got on her nerves!  
  
"You-you. . . .Argh! You inconsiderate little. . . . .man! Argh! This is why I swore men away in the first place!! I'm leaving!"Rei fumed, stomping away.  
  
Rei stopped storming away after finding she had absolutely no clue where she was. Cursing her idiocy, she looked around for any familiar landmarks. Sadly, there were none.  
  
With a loud sigh of frustration, she debated on whether the change into her alter-ego or not, just to find her way back.  
  
'Well',she pondered, 'They'll have to realize I've been gone for too long and, after a while, they'll start looking for me!'  
  
Then she thought, 'Yeah, with Inuyasha being the basic leader, I doubt it. . . . .'  
  
Grumping, she thought of other good options to find her way out of here.  
  
"That's it! I'm going to kill that man next time I see him. . . . ."she decided, deciding that just going in a straight line will eventually lead her out of the forest.  
  
Meanwhile, back at camp with the regular gang, Kagome was worried where Rei went.  
  
"Where could she be? If she gets lost, or even worst, killed, then Grampa's gonna kill me! Mom's gonna kill me! Her friends and family are gonna kill me!"Kagome fretted. "She was my responsibility when she jumped down the well, so if anything happens to her, I'll get blamed!!!"  
  
"Calm down! SHe'll be back just fine."Inuyasha grumped.  
  
"Yeah, that's comforting coming from you."Kagome shot back.  
  
"I'm sure she'll return just fine, Kagome."Sango offered. "I'm perfectly sure she can take care of herself just fine."  
  
"Well, she is Sailor Mars and all, so I guess she can. . . . ."Kagome said.  
  
*******  
  
Deciding to follow the rule of safety first, Rei had changed into Sailor Mars, for her own safety. Unbeknownst to her, it just attracted a few demons to her.  
  
"Mars Flame Sniper!"Sailor Mars cried out, her firey arrow piercing through the evil demon's heart.  
  
"Burning Mandela!"she yelled, the rings of fire circling her before shooting out at the multiple remaining targets and destorying them.  
  
As the last of the demons disinigrated into nothing more than a mere pile of ashes, Mars looked around, carefully scanning the trees and bushes to make sure nothing was there.  
  
Satisfied that there was nothing more there, she continued walking, poised and ready to dust anything else that got in her way.  
  
"You."a new voice said, startling her a bit.  
  
Spinning around, Mars looked around for the source of the voice, only to find no owner.  
  
"Who's there?!"she asked, glaring around the forest surrounding her.  
  
"Take a guess."  
  
Mars blinked. She didn't know anyone from this time besides the people she'd met up with already!  
  
"Just tell me who you are!!"she demanded.  
  
"Not yet."  
  
Mars growled in frustration before stalking off to try and excape the voice.  
  
*******  
  
So, who is 'The Voice'? Anyone want to take a wild guess?? Huh? Not even I know for sure, and I'm the one writing this thing! XD Well, I wonder on who I should decide it should be. . . . . . . . . .*pauses in thought*  
  
Then again, take a guess on who it is, and then I'll see on who I want it to be. XD  
  
Okay, so I am going to leave you all now, just hanging in suspense, wondering who 'The Voice' is.  
  
Ja ne, minna-san! *Waves* 


	4. The Voice Revealed

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: *sigh* Owning an anime would be a wonderful experience. Fame, fortune. . . . .If I owned an anime such as Sailor Moon or Inuyasha, or had come up with the characters for it, then I wouldn't be living in a dingy little house up in Missouri, but I would live in a nice, big mansion somewhere in Japan or California where I could get a tan at any time I wanted and have a private tutor at home instead of having to go to school.)  
  
Whoo, here is chapter four for all you nice readers! *dancedance*  
  
Now, who else is wondering who 'The Voice' is? *watches as the readers all raise their hands*  
  
. . . . . .I kind of thought so. ^^;; In truth, not even I knew who 'The Voice' was when I was typing that chapter, so it was going to be a surprise to even me, the author, the one who is supposed to have control over the fic yet never manages to keep control. And, just so all of you know, you were all terribly, terribly wrong. XD I can act just like my lit teacher, ha.  
  
*sigh* This fic is taking over meh mind!! @.@  
  
. . . . . . . .And this fic is probably going to out-fame my other fic, 'Destiny of Cosmos', my formerly most popular fic. X.x Woot, my note to myself is to keep this fic updated constantly. *is quite surprised at how winderfully this fic is blooming*  
  
And gimme me break on the 'update soon' rants, I'm updating frequently enough, soon I'll never even have the time to work on my intended fic. O.o;;;  
  
Anywho, review responses:  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - Living up to your namesake, I see. *snickers* Sorry, couldn't help it. And oh, man, I could just picture that. XD That would be kinda funny, let's see if I can figure that into here, somehow. And that's a bunch of 'lol's you have there, hun. XDXD  
  
Talum - Well, here's the next chapter, then.  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Oh, you think so too, eh? Yeah, thought so. XD What decent fan of the anime Inuyasha can't think Sesshy-boy is breathtaking? Cripes, they'd have to be insane to think he isn't! (--Whoops, lettin' meh fangirl side out a bit too often, eh?)  
  
suzy - Eh, I know, I know. Anywho, you'll just have to find out who 'The Voice' is.  
  
RybRedDragon05 - Well, glad you are enjoying this, 'cause this is getting to make me paranoid about not doing my homework. I swear, I still feel like I haven't done something even though I double-checked my notebook. . . .@.@  
  
Talia Moon - Okay, votes counted, we'll just have to see where this goes. And yes, Rin is cute.  
  
^_^ - And who are YOU to recommened ME into doing such a thing?? Huh? ^__^ Just kidding, just kidding! But really, if they tear eachother's heads off, then how could they get together? XD  
  
Lady Light - Eh, you'll see, you'll see. . . . . . .*looks all mysterious and junk*  
  
Firenze - Woot, glad you think that's such a wonderful idea, too! I'll make sure to type that up as soon as I finish this amazingly popular fic!!  
  
cappy - Thanks, and no need for several people to keep on bugging me about it. X.x I get the picture already! Gah. Okay, vote added in.  
  
Hao-sama rulze the world - Well, thanks for the nice reviews! I sense a loyal fan. *nodnod* And you got asked out?! Wow! Go you!! . . . .Which reminds me, I've never been asked out, either. *pout* Nobody likes me, they say I'm fat. . . . . .*poutpout* Eh, oh well, Mr. Perfect is out there somwhere. . . . .I just pray Mr. Perfect isn't anywhere as baka-like as Baka. (--don't ask, inside thing)  
  
Lina Hino - *staggers a bit from the glomp she just recieved* Well. . . .This. . . .is a first. X.x Never been glomped before. . . .That should be a movie. XD Wow, you really are a loyal fan. x.X;; Yay. . . .*finally falls over from you glomping onto her too long*  
  
JIN - Okay, got that.  
  
Ciara - Yeah, that could possibly be.  
  
Mars Lover - Oh yeah, it most likely was. And wonderful for you! And thanks. XD  
  
Woot, so many reviews! *grabs Sesshoumaru and huggles him like the fangirl she was born to be, then plants a big ol' kiss on him* O.o Oh, crap, better run. . . . .*dashes away, leaving a sign behind her as she is chased*  
  
Well, onto the fic now. X.x *is getting too many reviews* And I'll make sure to get on with a Rei/Kouga fic when my life gets less hectic. X.x  
  
*******  
  
Hey! Welcome to the couple poll results booth!! What's that? Oh, you want to see the results? Okay, here they are:  
  
Rei/Sesshoumaru - 15  
  
Rei/Inuyasha - 3  
  
Rei/Sango - 1  
  
Kagome/Inuyasha - 1  
  
Rin/Sesshoumaru (I still dun like this pairing) - 1  
  
Rei/Kouga (yes, I'm gonna make this part of the poll, too!) - 1 (or two, depending on how you look at it)  
  
If I made any mistakes, please tell me the right amount. @.@ Oh, um, the voting room is down the hall, to the left. Gah, the horror of counting so many votes. @.@ *falls over in exhaustion of counting*  
  
*******  
  
Sailor Mars silently trecked along the ground, wondering what happened to the voice, seeing as it hadn't spoken for quite some time.  
  
'I wonder. . . . . . . .What will everyone think when I tell them I've been to the past? I wonder what Setsuna would say about this if I told her.'Mars smiled at the thought. 'Yeah, being home sounds much better than this.'  
  
It was getting cold out, and despite the special spell put over her Sailor Fuku to block out the elements as much as possible, Mars was still freezing. In a quick flash of color, her fuku disappeared to be replaced by the outfit she was wearing before.  
  
"You!"the same voice as before said, this time a bit angry and. . . .shocked?  
  
Rei blinked and spun around on her heel, looking wildly around the forest.  
  
"What?! What did I do?!"Rei shouted angerly.  
  
A woman bearing resemblance to both Rei and Kagome stepped out of the bushes, an arrow pulled taught on a bow, her emotionless brown eyes glaring directly at Rei. (Appears all of you guessers were wrong. XD)  
  
'Whoah. . . . . . . .More resemblance going on here.'Rei thought, wondering just how many people looked like her.  
  
"You!"the woman said again. "Who are you?"  
  
"I am I."Rei replied, once more using this clever line.  
  
"Oh, you think you're smart, huh?"the woman smiled evilly before letting the arrow fly, just barely misisng Rei's head, but still shearing off a few strands of her hair.  
  
Rei's eyes widened in shock, surprised at having an arrow almost hit her dead on.  
  
"Who do you think you are, just shooting at me like that?!"she yelled, temper flaring.  
  
"I think you are nothing more than an impersonator!"the woman yelled, pulling another arrow out and keeping it poised on Rei.  
  
"Eh, you like arrows, eh?! Well, I'll show you archery!"Rei began. "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"  
  
In the bursts of flame, Rei's clothes faded and were replaced with her Sailor Fuku once again, and when the flames faded, Sailor Mars had her own flaming arrow poised for firing, aimed straight for the mysterious woman.  
  
'For self defense. . . . .'she thought, 'I had to reveal my identity.'  
  
"I am Sailor Mars, warrior of fire and spirit! State your name and I'll try to go easy no you."Mars proclaimed.  
  
"I don't think you can match up to my skills."the woman said, firing her arrow.  
  
"Flame Sniper!"Mars yelled, her bow and arrow flaring up even more before she released the arrow, where it met the other right between the two combatants.  
  
Both arrows headed for eachother at top speeds, but both hit eachother, slicing through eachother's middles, the halves falling to the ground, quite useless now.  
  
Mars blinked, surprised at having her arrow stopped in its tracks. That never happened before, only strong enemies like Galaxia ever managed to stop such attacks. . . . .  
  
"Just who are you?!"Mars yelled, turning a blazing hot gaze on her opponent.  
  
"Your worst nightmare."the woman smiled evilly.  
  
'Wow, they had that line way back here? Wow.'Mars blinked before retorting, "Well, I doubt you can match up to all of my attacks."  
  
"Then are you a demon?"  
  
Mars blinked. "A demon? Why would I be a demon?"  
  
"You have an arsenal of elemental attacks, fire, to be exact on my guess, and that could mean you're a fire demon."  
  
Mars growled. "I'm no demon!"  
  
"Prove it."  
  
Mars blinked, having expected that just slightly, but not entirely. Not sure on a clever way to get herself out of this situation she had dug herself deeper into, she just blinked and stood there like a fool, sweatdropping slightly at how she managed to come up with smart-aleck remarks whenever she didn't need them and never when she did.  
  
'Baka.'she mentally berated herself.  
  
"Leave the girl alone."a mysterious voice said. (Anyone care to take a guess? Huh? *gets in your faces* HUH?!?!? *realizes she may be scaring off readers* Ooph, um, sorry.)  
  
Mars stood up straight, looking around in confusion, pondering who was her new savior.  
  
The woman growled.  
  
"Sesshoumaru! STay out of my affairs!"  
  
Mars froze for a split second.  
  
'Sesshoumaru?! That cold man Rin was staying with? But. . . . .'  
  
"I don't think I will."  
  
The bushes rustled and out stepped the most graceful and breathtaking man in all past, present, and future.  
  
"Stay away, or I will kill you."the woman threatened.  
  
"I'd like to see you try, woman."  
  
Mars blinked, realizing that this was the chance to escape. But something told her to stay. . . . .And that something gave her a reason why.  
  
"Burning Mandala!"Mars cried out, the rings of flame surrounding her before looping out and aiming for the woman, who gave off the first sign of emotion Mars had seen yet, fear, and took off, the rings going after her, diminishing if they were about to crash into any trees. (Who says Rei can't respect the wildlife? Just 'cause she can burn it doesn't mean she has to.)  
  
Sesshoumaru turned to Mars, giving her a. . . . .once over.  
  
Mars blinked, 'Dang, he has nice eyes. . . . . ' She then mentally beat herself up.  
  
Mars flushed slightly under the attention. "What are you staring at?!"  
  
"Just making sure on who you are."he replied cooly.  
  
Mars blinked. "Wha. . .? You know who I am??"  
  
"Hai."  
  
"But. . . . How?"  
  
"I can tell."  
  
Mars blinked as he began walking away.  
  
"Hey!!!! Just where do you think you're going?!?!"  
  
*******  
  
"Ooh, shouldn't she have been back by now????"Kagome fretted, a bit on the bouncy side from being worried.  
  
"She's fine!"Inuyasha shouted, annoyed at Kagome's constant worrying.  
  
"Osuwari!!"Kagome shouted, causing the hanyou to kiss the ground. "Be more considerate, Inuyasha! She's my cousin, and I'm supposed to help take care of her!!! What if something happened to her?!?! I could get in big trouble when I go back home!!!"  
  
"Kagome, please calm down!!! I'm sure she's going to get back just fine!"Sango said, patting her frined on the shoulder.  
  
"She's better get back soon, and safe, or I'm going to go nuts. . . . ."Kagome moaned, slumping onto the ground.  
  
"Just relax and take deep breaths, Kagome."Miroku said, trying to get closer but being hit away by Sango.  
  
"Anyway, I'm sure she'll be back soon."Shippou said, looking up at Kagome. "She's strong, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess."Kagome sighed.  
  
*******  
  
"Hey, guys, I've just come up with a great idea!"USagi said, hopping up and dropping the book she was 'studying' from.  
  
"What is it, Usa?"Minako asked, looking up from her book.  
  
"We can go visit Rei at her cousin's house!"  
  
"Wouldn't that be intruding on family time?"Makoto asked, looking at at others.  
  
"It sort of would be. . . . ."Ami said, pondering the matter.  
  
"Well, we could call and ask her if she misses us and wants company!"Usagi said.  
  
"Oh, yeah, and who knows, we might meet some cute guys while we're there!"Minako said, her and Makoto going starry-eyed.  
  
"I guess I'm outnumbered."Ami sighed, shaking her head. "Well, let's consult Luna and Artemis and see what they have to say about this, and what we are going to do about schoolwork."  
  
"Puh-lease! We can just sign up to go to the school Rei's cousin goes to while we stay there! And I'm sure Luna and Artemis will agree!"Usagi stated enthusiastically.  
  
(Cut to them asking Luna and Artemis)  
  
". . . . .and we can sign up to go to Rei's cousin's school while we're there!"USagi stated proudly.  
  
"Absolutely not."Luna said.  
  
"Aww, why not?"Usagi whined.  
  
"What will you do about your parents?"Artemis said for her.  
  
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"Usagi pleaded, using those famous last words that got many in deep s***.  
  
"No."Luna stated plainly but firmly.  
  
"Ooh."Usagi pouted.  
  
"Wouldn't it just be easier to contact her on her communicatore?"Makoto asked.  
  
"Great idea!"Ami said, pulling back her sleeve to reveal her watch, which doubled as her communicator.  
  
Everyone waited and held their breaths as Ami pressed the red button, waiting for the static on the screen to lift.  
  
After a minute of static, the screen began flashing.  
  
"What the. . . . .What's happening?"Usagi asked.  
  
"I . . . .don't know."Ami replied.  
  
The communicator bleeped in a dying sort of way before fritzing out and blowing up on Ami's wrist.  
  
"Ami?! Are you hurt?"Minako asked.  
  
"Fine. . . .just a small scratch."Ami said, smiling slightly as she pulled the communicator off. "But I fear Rei may be in worse trouble. If we couldn't get any contact from here on my communicator, who knows what has happened to her. I should run a scan on my computer."  
  
"You do that! I'll go tell Luna and Artemis!"USagi said, jumping up.  
  
"I'll go with you."Makoto also stood.  
  
*******  
  
Mars trailed silently after Sesshoumaru, wondering why exactly he had bothered to follow her when he seemed so cold at the camp.  
  
'Gah! Men are too damned confusing! And they say us woman are hard to figure out.'  
  
(Yup, men ARE confusing in some ways. But hey, they ARE pretty easy in others. XD . . . .Oh, crap, not in THAT way you stinkin' perverts! Eww. *shudders* Stop twistin' meh words around. . . . .)  
  
'And why the hell am I following him?! I should be out there searching for Kagome and her groupies. . . . . . . .Of course he's probably leading you back to that camp with a warm fire and some food and. . . . . .Gah! Must not resort to thinking like Usagi. . . . .'  
  
(Cripes, I'm making Rei think a bit weird for herself. . . . . .Oh well. *shrugs and doges the fruit being thrown at her, meant for pelting her in the head, for giving too many author's notes in one small amount of space* . . .Looks like playing dodging all those rouge balls in football and volleyball and junk in gym is useful, after all. ^__^ Oh, and to those of you who watch the dub YuGiOh and Pokemon junk. . . . .You should see how many VAs are the same. O.o Yami's. . .er, the 'Big Yugi's voice=Entei, Mewtwo. Seto=Brock. Mai=Cassidy, of Team Rocket. 'Spirit of the Ring', 'Bad Bakura', yadda yadda=Tracey. Crap, this is one screwed up world. . . . .And yes, I'll shut up now.)  
  
With a tiny sigh of aggrivation, Mars picked up her pace and, with dull irony, noted how he made walking on this rough terrain so elegant seeming. Cripes, she had a hard enough time in these cursed heels looking graceful- how he could just manage with those thin black shoes was beyond her imagination.  
  
'Men. . . . .Gah!! He's no man, he's the friggin' devil sent up to heaven!'Mars fumed, quie angry at herself and that man in front of her, "Argh!"  
  
Sesshoumaru had sensed her little waves of anger, but just now turned around after hearing her yell out in frustration.  
  
"Something the matter?"he asked, not really seeming all that interested.  
  
Mars blinked before turning a fiery glare at him. "Oh, now why would there be anything wrong? I mean, walking around HEELS, in the woods on rough grounds, in a SKIRT when it's so FRIGGIN' COLD OUT, and stuck in the past when it ISN'T EVEN MY TIME, isn't all THAT BAD!"  
  
"Stop yelling, or you'll attract unwanted attention, wench."  
  
That was her last straw.  
  
"WHAT did you just CALL ME?"Mars bit out.  
  
". . . . ."  
  
Mars fumed.  
  
"TELL ME!"  
  
"...."  
  
Mars scowled and made a few faces at his back, deciding on some terms of revenge for a later time. (See, see?! She's gonna do something to him later on!!! I dunno what, but hey. . . . . .)  
  
With a long sigh an hopes of revenge on this horribly wonderful man-person, Sailor Mars kept her will of steel and continued on her long treck through the forest with what had to be one of the most dangerous and beautiful men in the whole universe. (I beg to differ. . . . .*dodges rotten vegetables from Sesshoumaru fans*)  
  
*******  
  
And there is your ending to chapter four! Ugh, that was kind of long, if you ask me. *checks to see how many pages it was*  
  
Six pages. . . . .Not very bad, if you ask me, expecially with the mood I've been in lately. I've had a very, very bad day today (I'm typig this up on Friday, all of you people who don't check the update dates).  
  
Anywho, please, review, and help me cheer up! I'm feeling so down and depressed right now, I feel so alone and sad. 


	5. It's Gonna be a Long Day

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: If I did own any type of anime, I would be living in a nice big and luxorious house right now, my mom wouldn't be *itching about my dad being a slacker and us becoming poor-er and poor-er by the day, and I'd be able to get the subtitled Sailor Moon StarS DVD set, along with a bunch of other anime stuff, and life wouldn't be so damned screwed up for me.)  
  
Yay, update update update! *does her update dance*  
  
Anywho, here is the newest installment to your favorite fic! Yes folks, it's Chapter Five!!! *cheers*  
  
Review Responses:  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Who can wait to see what she does? I don't even know myself, and I'm the author. X.x Eh, I don't know that, either.  
  
NeNe - Interesting name you have there. Anywho, gotcha.  
  
Firenze - Yupyup, I don't see how anyone can wear those and not trip somehow. X.x  
  
Lady Light - Yup, she is. And yup, that's true.  
  
Talum - Gee, that's blunt.  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - O.o Eek, take cover, she's hyper! *takes cover with the rast of the readers* Just kidding. *grins*Yeah, true! I hope I don't make her get too mad at him! . . .Of course, it would kind of be fun to see Sesshoumaru's butt get roasted.  
  
Anyway, I'm kind of following no real timeline here. You see, in the English SM version, they say 'One-thousand years ago', but in the Japanese version of SM, they don't give a specific time. So, I'd say they'd be about. . . one-thousand years after the destrutcion of the Silver Millenium. *nodnod*  
  
Ayeka Penor - Yup. Spiffy. Uh huh. *nods*  
  
Astrid - . . . .That wasn't very suspenseful. XD Okay then.  
  
Kin - Got you.  
  
Carrie - A threesome of KougaxReixSesshoumaru? x.x Whoah, never thought of that. x.X *makes a strange face* Okay, got your vote counted for Rei/Kouga, then.  
  
. . .I am serioiusly happy that Casey doesn't read anything I type on here. X.x He thinks calling Sesshoumaru 'Fluffy' is insulting. X.x I swear, if Casey were a girl, he'd have a crush on Sesshy. X.x  
  
*******  
  
Votes for pairs so far:  
  
Rei/Sesshoumaru - 18  
  
Rei/Inuyasha - 3  
  
Rei/Sango - 1  
  
Kagome/Inuyasha - 1  
  
Sesshoumaru/Rin - 1  
  
Rei/Kouga (Yup yup, still part of the poll XD) - 2  
  
Urf. X.x Lookit who our lead pair is. x.X Tee hee, I can't believe I got my prediction right! (Before I made this story, I predicted who the pairing would be, and I guess I was right. X.x) Polls close once the next chapter is posted.  
  
*******  
  
"So, Ames, what's the news on Rei?"Minako asked, peering over Ami's shoulder at her mini-computer.  
  
"I still can't find anything that could matter signifigantly to u-Scratch, that the scan of Japan's been done, and, according to my computer Rei's. . . . . . ."Ami trailed off, her eyes widening as she stared at the screen.  
  
"What?! Rei's what?!"Usagi asked from the corner.  
  
"She's. . . . .gone."Ami whispered.  
  
"Gone?! How could she be gone?!"Minako yelped.  
  
"Yeah, she couldn't have just disappeared off the face of the Earth, now could she?"Makoto said.  
  
"Well, she probably could've been taken by space invaders, but what're the chances of that happening?"Minako laughed nervously.  
  
"Ami, what's the exact data?"Luna asked, hopping up on the table Ami was working on.  
  
"See for yourself."  
  
Luna's golden eyes scanned over the words on the computer in a fairly quick amount of time.  
  
"In other words, there's no sign of her life on here on this planet."Luna said.  
  
"Correct. Maybe we should go to her relatives' place and see what they have to say."Ami stated.  
  
"Yeah, but what if they shoo us away and try to cover it up? Maybe they are in on her disappearance!"Minako said.  
  
"Possibly. . . . ."  
  
"Well, I say we go! We can't let Rei just deal with things on her own!"Usagi said.  
  
"Usagi, it might be too dangerous. . . .We need to send out two people to do investigating and then we'll see what happens."Luna said.  
  
"But-"  
  
"No buts! You are to stay here while Ami and Minako can do the scouting with Artemis."  
  
"Oh, fine."USagi pouted, finally giving in to her advisor.  
  
"Good. Ami, Minako, please start packing and be prepared to leave first thing in the morning."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Roger!"  
  
*******  
  
Rei kept a focused glare fixed on the fire burning in front of her, trying to keep her attention off of Sesshoumaru. The last thing she needed was to get caught staring at him like some fool and then getting killed.  
  
Blinking, Rei looked up at the stars and decided that would keep her occupied for a while and still keeping her eyes away from Sesshoumaru and that constant cold glare.  
  
Damn it, she was falling in love again, even after she had sworn away men after her father's assistant, Kaitou, broke her heart by marrying another woman and becoming everything he said he wouldn't. (If you haven't read 'Casablanca Memories', included in the Sailor Moon manga and an original, un-animated piece delving into Rei's reason of hating men so much, then you probalby didn't get the above.)  
  
"Go to sleep, woman."Sesshoumaru broke her thoughts.  
  
Rei blinked. 'Oh, don't tell me Mr. Cold-and-Heartless has finally become nice and caring.'  
  
Sesshoumaru, as if reading her thoughts, gave her a look that plainly said 'don't-jump-to-conclusions-wench' before speaking again, "I do not want you to slow my progress down. We are to leave at the crack of dawn."  
  
In otherwords, she was going to have a short night of sleep, seeing as the moon was positioned at about twelve midnight on a crisp, fall evening.  
  
Rei grumbled a bit before going over to a corner where some light hit her from the fire and making herself a bed of leaves and twigs.  
  
This was so going to ruin her hair.  
  
*******  
  
The next morning, Rei felt an annoying, constant poking and prodding on her side. She absently swatted away the offender and dug her face into the pillow in an attempt to fall asleep, seeing as she was momentarily forgetting where she was.  
  
The poking persisted and soon a disgruntled Rei was stomping over to the cooking breakfast while a scorched toad demon lay face-down on the dirt.  
  
After breakfast had been cooked, everyone sat down to eat some and relax, even for a moment.  
  
Rei, herself, was unusually quiet compared to usual. Of course, anybody would be if they were stuck around a basic group of strangers in the past.  
  
'My life just keeps getting better and better. Never a dull moment with Rei Hino.'Rei thought bitterly, chewing on her food. 'This is going to be one long family visit.'  
  
After breakfast had been eaten, the group was on the road, heading to wherever they were led.  
  
Rei trailed at the very back, not wanting to be stuck in front of that annoying toad when it could pull tricks on her. Trust Rei, it was not very pleasent when you become paranoid of an amphibian.  
  
Rei was left to her thoughts, thankfully, and was busy playing around with her henshin stick, tracing her fingers over the markings and topper mindlessly.  
  
She just knew that getting out of this in one piece, much less alive, would be very diffficult.  
  
*******  
  
Kagome was nervously fiddling with a watch she wore, worried about Rei.  
  
"Ooh, I hope we find her soon! I'm going to be in such big trouble if I don't find her soon!"she fretted.  
  
"Shut up already!"  
  
"Osuwari!"  
  
WHAM!  
  
The new daily routine of things was just starting to get into flow for almost everyone, apparently.  
  
*******  
  
Rei trudged at the back of the group, still a bit groggy from just waking up. Since she was trudging behind, this gave her the chance to go off into her own little thoughts to think about how screwed up her life is.  
  
'Crap, ever since I friggin' met Usagi and the rest of the girls, things just kept getting weirder and weirder, and now this! Why does everything happen to me, of all people?!'she thought, yawning.  
  
This was certainly going to be an extra long day for poor Rei. (Hey, that rhymed, kind of. O.o)  
  
*******  
  
Okay, sorry this is so short, but I'm already getting hit with a Writer's Block for this story! ^^;; I manged to tame it a bit, but still, I'm getting a bit stuck here and there. *defeated pout*  
  
Anywho, I'll try to have the next chapter up within this month, what with having this horrid Writer's Block upon me right at this crucial moment. 


	6. Still on the Road

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: If I actually did own the rights to Inuyasha or Sailor Moon or any of the characters from either, then the bishounen from each {minus Mamo- baka, I hate him and it'd burn my eyes to see such} would run around naked, thus creating wonderful fanservice for the female anime lovers.)  
  
Baka FFN wouldn't work for the past few days. *pouts unhappily* And I was wanting to see if any good fics had come out, too.  
  
¬_¬ --I have an obsession with that face. ^^;  
  
£.£-- I like making this one, too. ^^;;  
  
Anywho, hope all of you enjoy this chapter, I've worked my arse off trying to get it as perfect as possible. Writer's Block bites big time.  
  
*le sigh* Y'know, I've been really bored the past few days, and school has been getting harder and harder by the day! @.@ I HATE SCHOOL! Grades were recieved a few nights ago, and I, lucky, got good grades, so no worries, really. @.@  
  
Anywho, I am really starting to hate my life at the moment. Sure, life is all good and well when you get on the computer and get to talk with friends and get lost in the internet, but I have a facade I am putting up to hide my feelings from a bunch of people.  
  
. . . .This is so getting off topic, isn't it? *sweatdrop*  
  
Review responses:  
  
Yume no Tenshi - Eh, glad you think 'dis be a great story'. ^^ Okay, okay, I see.  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - Oh, no, RUN! She's extra hyper everyone! *ducks behind a wall of sandbags* Okay, okay, kidding. ^^ Well, face the facts, it'll be fun to see Kagome's family squirm with Minako there to bother them all. And anyway, Ami's there to help keep her under control, sort of. Yes, Jaken should stay out of Rei's way, otherwise a few animals will be having roasted frog legs for dinner some night. XD  
  
Sailor Christian - You don't know that many Inuyasha characters?? Then why the heck are you reading this fic? There will be LOTS of characters you may not know about in here that'll pop up. Might want to go off and read spoilers sometime, kid, it'd be helpful to understand some of this. How far are you even into the series? Unless you watch the dubs on Cartoon Network, but, ah, even I only had that to go by (I lost my cable during the summer ;_;) and I still looked up everything on the internet. (-I already knew I was never going to see the ending to the series, so I just use spoilers to any anime I start to watch since some force prevents me from seeing the ending.)  
  
Firenze - Yeah, I updated. . . . .*slowly inches away*  
  
Shadowkitsune - Thanks. . . .And it WILL happen, I can guarantee it. *laughs evilly*  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Yeah, me too. But hey, what can I say? She'll probably get a better sleeping spot soon. *giggles insanely*The groups are going to meet up, no worries about that.  
  
Shadowkitsune - Woot, you added my fic to your favories list. *does a small dance* . . .You were gonna send Kurama on me? Spiffy! . . .Er, I mean, aw man. . . . . . *mumbles something about not minding that at all*  
  
Talum - Er, thanks.  
  
Okay, I've begun working on that Rei/Kouga fic for all of you people who wanted it. I'll try to get it up soon. . .And. . .I have absolutely no clue just how I'm going to work things into that fic. *sweatdrops*  
  
*******  
  
Couple votes so far:  
  
Rei/Sesshoumaru: 19  
  
Rei/Inuyasha: 3  
  
Rei/Sango: 1  
  
Kagome/Inuyasha: 3  
  
Rin/Sesshoumaru: 1  
  
Rei/Kouga: 2  
  
Um, um, so. . .The polls close this chapter. That means you can vote on this chapter but none after this point. No, that doesn't mean you can go back and vote over and over again, it means that once the next chapter is posted, pairings are decided. XP  
  
*******  
  
Rei made a face as she sheilded her eyes from the ever-bright sun, wincing from the intensity of the light. Back in her Japan, there was so much pollution and so many buildings weakening the sun's rays that there was no real problem with there being too much light. But back here. . .There were barely any buildings, much less that much pollution to block out any sun.  
  
On the upside, she could get a small tan from this, and the ozone layer was probably in perfect shape, so she probably wouldn't get too much damage to her skin while doing her 'tanning while walking' plan.  
  
Crap, this was pathetic.  
  
Rei knew that, she was just making liable excuses as to reason with her brain why exactly she had decided to follow an annoyingly cool man that just frustrated her, a hyper active little girl, and a toad, but there was no way she would ever get herself to believe anything.  
  
Crap, when did she have to get back home anyway?  
  
*******  
  
Ami and Minako stood in front of the Higurashi residence, cooking up a plan.  
  
It was no easy task for these two girls to get Rei's Grandpa to fess up the location of this place. They ended up having to threaten him to get the address. . .  
  
. . .the threat being that they would stop visiting the shrine. The poor, old, hentai man, of course, couldn't let that happen.  
  
"So. . . .What do we do now?"Minako asked for the millionth time.  
  
"I'm thinking of it!"Ami sighed back.  
  
"Aww. . . .Why can't we just march up and ask for Rei?"  
  
"That would seem suspicious."  
  
"Ooooh."  
  
Ami sweatdropped. "Anyway, I think I have a plan, just follow my lead."  
  
"Okie dokie!"Minako grinned, bouncing slightly on her heels.  
  
Ami sighed. She was going to end up with a headache by the time this was all over.  
  
*******  
  
Violet eyes, shielded by some styilsh sunglasses, looked up from her book and around the pool.  
  
'Haruka-papa is trying to sneak up on Michiru-mama.'she thought, smiling slightly and waiting for the inevitable screech and splash that always accompanied such things.  
  
Hotaru smiled and giggled slightly as the sounds she predicted would happen did happen. . .along with a few other events.  
  
Suddenly the young girl's secondary mother, Setsuna, perked up from the spot she was sunbathing.  
  
"Setsuna-mama?"Hotaru asked, looking at Setsuna strangely.  
  
"The Time Stream has been used!"Setsuna whispered. "And I only now sensed it?!"  
  
Haruka and Michiru looked up from their water fight to pay attention to the wise Time Guardian's words.  
  
"I must go."Setsuna said, standing and hurrying up to her room. (I cannot imagine Setsuna running. . .It's so. . .un-Setsuna like. . .O.o)  
  
Hotaru set her book down and hurried after her adoptive mother, wondering what the problem was.  
  
"Setsuna-mama?!"Hotaru called into the house, looking around frantically before rushing up the stairs and towards Setsuna's room.  
  
Haruka and Michiru were right behind her, dashing up the flights of stairs with speeds unmatched, wanting to know why Setsuna was so upset over what was usually just a simple problem.  
  
Inside the room, Setsuna had just transformed into Sailor Pluto, and was readying herself to travel back to the Gates of Time.  
  
"Setsuna-mama? What's wrong?"Hotaru asked, peeking her head in the room.  
  
"Yeah, tell us too!"Haruka said, hers and Michiru's heads appearing in the doorway.  
  
Sailor Pluto just looked at them.  
  
"Something is very amiss. One of our very senshi has traveled through time. And without my consent."  
  
"Who did it?"Haruka asked.  
  
"Rei."Pluto answered, grabbing a bag anf fishing through her drawers.  
  
"How'd she do that?"Michiru asked.  
  
"She has a family member who has been traveling through time for the past few months."  
  
"And you knew about that?!"Haruka burst out.  
  
"It was meant to happen, unlike Rei's little dropping in from following her cousin."  
  
"What are you going to do about it, then?"Hotaru asked.  
  
"Go to that time and bring her back, of course. What else did you expect?"  
  
"Can I come too?!"Hotaru asked, going wide-eyed.  
  
"You may not!"Michiru said.  
  
"Aww, but why???"Hotaru asked, turning her puppy-dog eyes onto Michiru.  
  
"Because there are demons running around there day and night, with no doubt that they shall be tracking us by the huge power radiating off of us in more than one way."Pluto replied, stuffing a few pouches into the bag.  
  
"But I can handle them!"Hotaru whined.  
  
"Absolutely not."Pluto said fiercely as she summoned her Time Staff and clicked it on the floor a couple of times, causing a door to appear before her.  
  
"Stay safe, Setsuna!"Michiru called.  
  
"Why wouldn't I?"  
  
"And don't bring home any guys!"Haruka yelled.  
  
"Why would I?"  
  
"And I'm coming with you!"Hotaru shouted, waiting for the last minute after Pluto had disappeared through the door to slam it open and jump through herself, leaving a stunned Haruka and Michiru behind.  
  
"We are such bad parents."Haruka said, earning a whap on the head from Michiru.  
  
*******  
  
Rei swept some of her long raven hair behind her ear, not at all annoyed by it, having become used to it constantly getting in the way.  
  
Night was beginning to fall (and it yelled 'Ack!' as it did ^^; Couldn't resist that.) and the group was still hiking through this forest.  
  
Rei, though tired and grumpy around now having hiked about ten miles in one day, had a new train of thought on how to get out of here.  
  
'I can roast him and stuff, but then that Rin kid would see the violence and I don't want to promote it into her life. . . .'  
  
(Not promoting it into Rin's life? *holds a straight face before bursting into fits of laughter* Crap, Rin was friggin' attacked by WOLVES! Oh, that's a good one. . . .)  
  
'And I have absolutely no clue where I am. . . .'  
  
(Somewhere in Japan! Duh. Silly Rei.)  
  
'. . . . .I now know what it's like to be the somewhat damsel in distress. . .Without the high castle and the dragons, though.'  
  
Rei grumbled something under her breath and continued walking.  
  
Why did she have a feeling this wouldn't be over for a long while?  
  
*******  
  
Erm. . . .Yet another short chapter. Gomen. ^^;; I'm trying to persuade my parents to buy alphabet beads so I can make a necklace with the whole poem Jabberwocky on it. . . . .  
  
What? Stop staring! I have to! It's for a lit grade! Seriously!  
  
. . . . .Come to boot, I also have to memorize the danged thing.  
  
*clears throat* 'Twas brilling, did gyre and gimble in the wabe. . . .uh. . .something something something, and the mome raths outgrabe. *sweatdrop*  
  
Crap, I have a lot of work to do.  
  
Anywho, I'll attempt to get the next chapter out soon. With school, life, and all that crap in the way, everything is so hectic. Ja ne! 


	7. Author's Note

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
Gomen nasai, minna-san. This is an author's note. Dang, I hate saying that. .  
  
Anywho, I would've updated this fic by now but. . . .things are going on. My sis got a Windows XP disc that a friend from school let her borrow and she decided to upload it on our computer. IT took one hour for one minute on there to go by.  
  
After three days of trying it over and over again, we gave up and tried to upload our good ol' Windows 98 back onto it. That failed miserably, seeing as once it hit the final marking point for installation, it froze up on us.  
  
So, as you can see, we've had bunches of trouble.  
  
Now, lucky me, I gave my sister the ultimate puppy dog eye look and managed to save all my files onto our laptop, which my dad got from my uncle while visiting Colorado. I have all my songs and pictures, officially.  
  
I would love to upload a fic, but I'm busy myself. Since Saturday I was working up on my Jabberwocky project for school (I now have an official hate for glue and shischkabob sticks), which I had due in three days.  
  
I then proceeded to ramble on and on for the reasons why I knew XP would be bad for us to upload on our computer. I was ignored, phooey.  
  
In my current situation, I cannot listen to any of the really good songs I had just recently found before we messed up our main computer, meaning I am now stuck with listening to all the Japanese (and in one case, Chinese music) music I've burned onto CDs and cannot save any spiffy pictures I find of bishounen onto the laptop or it will run out of space (anybody want to donate floppy disks to me?). Also, my CD player may be playing CDs, but if you move around, it ruins the reception since a certain someone (*cough* Jenny *coughcough*) broke off the antenna for it a few years ago.  
  
So, life's a mess (boo hoo) and things suck around here with too much upset in the family being caused by thr-er, two things: Money and the computer  
  
With everything said and done there, this fic (nor will any others) be updated until we get our main computer fixed. Onegai, please be patient!! I'll try as best as I can to keep you all updated on the progress of this fic! 


	8. Nani?

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: Owning Sailor Moon or Inuyasha would be such a privilage. . .I could rule the world by owning either one! *laughs evilly*)  
  
Um. . . .This is chapter seven, ne? *isn't really that right in the head right now* Gomen, I kind of scared myself the other night. . . . .. . You don't want to know.  
  
Anywho, I am getting writer's block for this fic already. Wai!! It's unfair, I finally make a wonderful fic and I get WRITER'S BLOCK! ARGH! *pounds head against wall*  
  
. . . .Ouch. *rubs head*  
  
Anywho, review responses:  
  
Tenshi-Hotaru - Thanks a bunch! *feral grin* Gee, you think the plot's interesting now? Well, I am probably going to throw in a few twists, turns, and loops into here to try and make this one rollercoaster of a story. And yes, school is quite the horror. And, for that review on the author's ote I posted, yeah, well, I felt inclined to do it.  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - 'Total yayness'? *blink* Eherm. . . . Yeesh, you must be slightly easily amused because the night falling is quite an old one, from what I know. But hey, to each their own. *shrug* Yes, when people bounce off walls they tend to hit other people in the room, so sandbags to cower behind are the nessecity. Oh, for that review on the author's note, yup, so true.  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Yup. Eh, not that big reaction from Setsuna, as you'll see. NEither could I've. @.@  
  
Pyro Kitty Cat - Oh please, I could've left off at a much more untimelier place than that. *snorts*  
  
Mageling - I write anime well? @_@ Yes, 'tis an odd thing to say. @_x And. . .*shrug* 'Twas that first thing that came to mind. And, for that second review. . . . .Rei and Miroku? X_@ How. . .original. And I'll make sure to kep it up. ^_~ And to that third review. . . .Yeah yeah yeah, I get it, I get it.  
  
Ayeka Penor - You're the second person to find that joke very funny. And yes, but hey, it's nice to know why I don't every day.  
  
Shadowkitsune - Er, thanks. *looks around shiftily before leaning in to whisper* Y'know, many fangirls out there think quite the contrary, hon, because I ~think~ I see a hoarde of'em coming from everywhere around the world for you. *leans back to recline regularly in her chair* And I doubt you can really make a death, for me, slow and painful. I'm an expert on torture, and I handle pain quite well. *grins ferally to reveal sharp, pointy fangs* Hehe. *smiles a fake cheery smile before going dead serious* Don't mess with me.  
  
I DO NOT OWN DBZ - Thanks.  
  
hentai - Um. . . .EWWW!! *gags repeatedly before whapping her head against a wall* Crap, what was the point of this review anyway?!?! O.o *gags again before stopping* Oh, wait, if I can look at yaoi things, then why the hell am I gagging at this? *shrugs before walking off* If I ever find out who this reviewer is, I'm going to send them a nice email with a big prettiful picture of two YuGiOh guys making out or having sex. Whichever I feel most prone to. *cackles insanely*  
  
But seriously, I'm going to have to rant about this sometime soon, like at the end of the chapter, so beware, hentai, for I KNOW where you live. *cackles insanely once again* . . .Well, actually, I don't, but hey, I CAN find out.  
  
Carrie - Well, the computer's fixed. ^^; And I don't know why they aren't either, maybe I should hold a poll for that on my website or something. ^^; And I'll make sure to do that, just so we can have some fun with the dramtic-ness of the plot.  
  
fanfiction fanatic -Oh, I got onto ff.net with Windows XP on my laptop. *shrug* Maybe it just doesn't work for you, or maybe when you used XP the site was at a downtime? Ah, really? Lots of people notice it, they just don't really care about the resemblance between the two, since there are so many look alikes in the anime world.  
  
angelwings6117 - Great! Well, here's an update!  
  
Well, that's a lot of typing in itself for the reveiws. ^^; It's probably about a page long, give or take a few sentences. ^__^ Anywho, I hope all of you enjoy this chapter. *waves all the readers off cheerfully*  
  
*******  
  
FINAL COUPLE VOTES:  
  
Rei/Sesshoumaru, by around twenty or so votes. Hope all of the voters are happy, and to those of you Rei/Kouga fans, I'll have that fic for that pair out sometime when this fic is near its end, maybe sooner.  
  
Kudos goes to the voters who stood up for what they wanted and made out of this world votes. ^__^ *hands out bags of sweets and such to those who didn't have their couple honored* Honors to those who voted for Rei/Kouga, I'm working on that fic now.  
  
*******  
  
Rei sighed as she leaned against the tree, letting the cool wind that was gently blowing cool her off from the hiking she had been doing all day. In truth, this was starting to take a strain on her, despite her great amount of stubborn will power.  
  
'I don't know how anyone can possibly hike so much for so long for so many days. . . . .'she thought.  
  
She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree, letting the breeze sweep her hair around her and blow some cherry petals around, causing a scene of peace to be seen around her. It was almost perfect.  
  
'Almost' was the keyword, for, just as soon as anyone could possibly think it was, a brilliant garnet light flashed and a door appeared, right in front of Rei, causing her to jump in shock and utter out an 'eep'.  
  
"Oh, it can't possibly be. . . ."she said as the door swung open and a white light flared to life, catching the attention of the other traveling companions, if it hadn't already.  
  
Two silhouettes appeared in the doorway before stepping out and shutting the door, the taller of the two wagging a finger at the shorter one like a mother would her child.  
  
". . .you could've ended up in an entirely different place, much less to say and entirely different time!"the taller of the two finished whatever was being said.  
  
"Aw, but I just wanted to see what this place was like!"the shorter of the two whined childishly.  
  
"It's dangerous here."the taller one reprimidaded. "And I am going to take you back right now where Haruka and Michiru can give you some proper discapline."  
  
"Aw, but. . . ."  
  
"No buts!"  
  
Rei blinked and sweatdropped at the antics of the two, which had probalby pricked the attention of her traveling companions even more.  
  
Figuring that the voices belonged to the people she thought they belonged to, Rei timidly called out, "Setsuna? Hotaru?"  
  
The two figures turned to face Rei.  
  
"Rei!"the shorter of the two called.  
  
"Hotaru? What are you and Setsuna both doing here??"Rei asked as the short girl ran up and gave her a bear hug.  
  
"Oh, Setsuna-mama said-"Hotaru began, but Setsuna cut her off. (Did I mention Setsuna de-transformed?)  
  
"I came here because I just now sensed a rip in the Time Stream,"Setsuna began, putting emphasis on the 'I', pausing a moment to send a meaningful glance at Hotaru before continuing, "And it was by you. Now, I came here, planning to find you and take you back to your rightful time period, but then little Hotaru jumped into the portal after I did. So, we'll have to delay this little trip here longer than expected."  
  
Rei's face brightened considerably. "I'm going to go home???"  
  
"Hai."Setsuna replied, nodding.  
  
Rei's face lit up and she jumped for joy. "YES! I was getting so tired of all this running around and getting super dirty!"  
  
Hotaru, who was still clinging to Rei, sniffed said woman. "Yeah, you need a bath."  
  
Rei glared at Hotaru playfully, lightly hitting her on the head.  
  
"Awww."Hotaru pouted.  
  
Rei grinned lightly at her before stooping down and enveloping the girl in a real hug.  
  
"Ooh, you really shouldn't have come, Hotaru. This place isn't all that great. It's actually pretty dirty and stuff and there's no good place to get a private bath. The hot springs are all open to peeping toms and I get paranoid about it!"  
  
Hotaru just shrugged. "Oh well!"  
  
Rei grinned and patted the young girl on the head before standing and facing Setsuna, "So, when are we leaving?"  
  
"All in good time Rei. We have all the time in the world, after all. . . ."  
  
"Okay, enough with the time puns Setsuna. S'not funny anymore."  
  
Setsuna smiled slightly.  
  
"Seriously, when are we going home??"Rei asked.  
  
"Depending on how soon I can get Hotaru to agree to come back. Even with force, she's a tough little girl."Setsuna replied.  
  
"What, she pulls the puppy dog eyes on you or something?"Rei asked.  
  
Setsuna sighed and nodded. "She learned it from Chibiusa."  
  
Rei snickered. "The great Guardian of the Time Gates, who has been alive for centuries and has seen so many deaths beyond imagination without any effect on her, is affected by puppy dog eyes?!"  
  
Setsuna sighed and rolled her eyes toward the heavens as if to ask why she had this put upon her instead of someone else. "You're never going to let me live this down, are you?"  
  
"Nope. Wait until the other girls hear this, they're going to crack up."Rei burst into laughter at this.  
  
Setsuna let out a long sigh as she blew a few stray bangs out of her face.  
  
Hotaru just giggled to herself at that.  
  
In the backround, Rin had huddled herself behindt Sesshoumaru's legs and Jaken was cowering behind some bushes, which made a sligh rustling sound with his quivering at the strange women.  
  
Hotaru, who noticed the sound, looked over her shoulder towards where the group was.  
  
"Hey, Rei, who're they?"Hotaru asked, nodding her head in the group's direction.  
  
"Oh! Um, ehe, yeah, kind of forgot about them. . . .Uh, well, the guy with the white hair is Sesshoumaru, the girl behind him is Rin, and the toad quivering behind the bushes is Jaken."Rei replied.  
  
Hotaru grinned and waved brightly at Rin, who smiled a little back with her own little wave.  
  
Setsuna glanced at Rei, who had motioned Rin over to introduce her and Hotaru properly, before glancing at the ever-stoic Sesshoumaru.  
  
'Minako would really love to be here right now.'she thought silently, wondering just what Minako would pull if she was here.  
  
*******  
  
Minako was desperately trying to stay awake through the boring bits of conversation Ami and the owners of the shrine were having.  
  
'This is a huge drag.'Minako thought, looking at her reflection in her teacup, which was held loosely between her two intwined hands, to keep occupied.  
  
"Minako!"Ami's voice cut through her daze.  
  
"Nani?! I didn't do it!!!"Minako yelped, looking up while the other occupants of the room sweatdropped.  
  
"Mina, we were just going to go out and tour the shrine a bit. They insisted."Ami said, a large sweatdrop overhanging her head as she tried to calm her blonde friend down.  
  
"Minako blinked stupidly before grinning her thousand-watt grin. "Oh! Okay!"  
  
Ami sweatdropped again before dragging her friend outside to look around. Once outside, and out of sight and hearing distance, Ami set a cold glare onto her friend.  
  
"Next time, play along with the act! I managed to make it look like we were both interested in the shrine's history and they said we could freely tour around this place. Now, can you sense anything?"Ami stated firmly, flipping out her mini-computer and letting it scan the area.  
  
"Um, uh. . . .,"Minako paused breifly, "I think I can sense something coming from that shack over there."  
  
Ami looked up from her computer to glance where Minako was pointing at before turning her computer to that direction and letting it scan the old house.  
  
"It's a wellhouse, Minako."Ami stated as she read over the lines of information the scrolled by, quite fastly, on the screen.  
  
Minako shrugged, "Same difference."  
  
Ami sighed and continued to read over the readings coming from the wellhouse.  
  
After about two minutes of silence, Minako began to sing the song that never ends to keep occupied. Ami, on the other hand, tried to block out the annoying tune before snapping at the blonde.  
  
"PLEASE stop that! First off, I have all that we need to know about the wellhouse, so we can head back and give the reports to Luna and Artimas."Ami said sharply. (It looks like I spelled Arty's name wrong. O.o)  
  
Minako just pouted cutely before shrugging and marching off."Then let's go!"  
  
Ami sighed, looked up to the heavens as if to ask why she was stuck with this, and follwed after the hyper-active blonde time bomb.  
  
*******  
  
Rei stared up at the sky before glancing back down to earth to watch as Rin and Hotaru pranced about, playing children's games and having fun doing whatever they wanted.  
  
"Hm, Hotaru looks happy to have a friend to play with."Setsuna stated from her standing position of leaning against the tree.  
  
"Yeah."Rei replied, watching the two children laugh and play as children should.  
  
Setsuna smiled, "Hotaru was getting lonely without anyone to play with."  
  
"I can tell. She's really trying to last as long as possible out there."  
  
". . . .Rei?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"What do you ~really~ think of this place?"  
  
Rei hesitated for a second, "It's natural. Very calm so far."  
  
Setsuna was trying something, quite obviously to Rei, she was just trying to be subtle about it. . . .  
  
"How much longer would you mind staying here?"Setsuna asked.  
  
'What the heck is she trying to pull?'Rei thought before speaking, "I don't really prefer to stay here much longer. But it wouldn't be so bad."  
  
"Then you may leave now."Setsuna replied, holding out her hand and letting her staff appear in it in a small spark of garnet light and sparkles. She proceeded to tap it on the ground and a the door from before appeared, still looking the same as ever, but with intricate markings upon it instead of being plain.  
  
"I can?"Rei asked.  
  
"Hai. You will be sent back to the Higurashi household."Setsuna replied, nodding.  
  
"But what about. . .?"  
  
"Kagome? I shall tell her. No worries."Setsuna smiled calmly.  
  
"I. . .guess I'll go back then. . . ."Rei said, a bit hesitant sounding, but still walked up to the door. "Tell Rin I said bye."  
  
"What about the other two?"  
  
"Sesshoumaru and Jaken? . . . . .Tell then I said. . . .,"Rei paused, "Tell them I said it was an. . .interesting trip."  
  
Sestuna smiled, "I will."  
  
"I'll see you soon, Setsuna."Rei grinned before stepping up to the door and turning the knob, pulling it open and stepping into the bright light while gusts of air from the Time Stream blew out from the doorway.. Once she had stepped in, the door slammed shut and a last, stubborn gust of wind blew out with great force, Setsuna standing calmly as it swept by her, making her hair fly backwards, as it continued onwards to vanish into nothing. The door disappeared and any trace of Rei from this time was lost.  
  
Setsuna stared at the spot where the door had been, hoping that her plan would work.  
  
"Hotaru, we're going to leave soon."  
  
"Hai, Setsuna-mama!"  
  
*******  
  
I had to have given you guys all a heart attack there with that twist-a-roony. *giggles insanely* I know quite well what I'm doing, so do not fear! All of you must seriously be making one of these faces: O.o o.o O.O X_o O_X o_o or some other variety of them. *grin*  
  
Anywho, don't fear, I THINK I've got this planned out on where it's going. . . . .emphasis on the 'think'. *hasn't written this fic out on paper yet and has no real plan for it*  
  
But seriously, trust me here, I am going to do some serious thinking ahead while I have the breakfast in French tomorrow. *nodnod* . . .Oh, shnap, then I go onto German. Hope the new teacher's cool. . ..  
  
Lucky me, I've been practicing this part for some flame I got on some other fic I have. *rolls up sleeves* To our dear 'hentai', whom I have put onto my somewhat 'black list', shall have a few parapgraphs of wasted space dedicated to him:  
  
Now, what you said was immature (ignore my childish antics up there, I had sugar and wasn't thinking straight). Nobody needed to know that information (unless you had a horny wife of girlfriend. Most 'normal' people don't go around saying such things. It's immature, childish, and makes you seem like a total idiot. Most people prefer *not* to look like total idiots.  
  
You're a lucky I'm not some super genius hacker person, otherwise I could probably track you down and personally MAKE you apologize for that. . . . .Of course, it is NEVER a wonderful idea to leave such messages in people's reviews, becuase, for one, it isn't a review, and two; you never know who you're messing with.  
  
Most smart people also use capitals only at the beginning of sentences. You, my aquaintence, must not have gone to school or have otherwise had a very bad teacher, otherwise you just wasted the teacer's time and said teacher should get a raise (haha! *points and laughs*).  
  
I can tell you right now, any decent person my age would blanch at this, and any decent adult would gasp. Any person younger than my age would point an most likely laugh or gasp, but either way. . . . .The message you type wasted approximately one to five minutes of your life and about three seconds of my life to read it. Furthermore, it took another ten minutes out of my night right now in which I could be typing another fic to type this message. The moral of this story: Don't bother me with flames or pointless things that don't even comment on my fics. It's a waste of everyone's time (and fic space) and it annoys the hell out of everyone. So, if you aren't going to bother making at least one simple comment on my fic, don't say anything at all!  
  
. . .Now, I hope that taught everyone a lesson. You bother me with flames or pointles things and I humiliate you in front of thousands of readers. Fun, no? *grins ferally* 


	9. Discussions

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: Tch, yeah, right. *snorts*)  
  
Yo! Wow, I hit a good ninety reviews last chapter. *dies* I really don't think I can handle that many!  
  
Anywho, I'm shocked at myself. They want to publish one of my poems in the U.K. *dies yet again* I nearly had a heart attack the night when I heard the news.  
  
But anyway, onto other stuff. . .I really would've updated sooner, but we had to F-Disk our computer (for the third freaking time in four months)! Crapit, I lost many of my favorite songs. *pouts unhappily* Plus I've been swamped with homework and oogling the snow that's been recently down here in St. Louis (though by now it's completely melted).  
  
In other news, life's been super hectic and things have been going insane since the flu is spreading like wildfire through the city, causing many people my age and younger to become very sick (with possible death). School's now a basic hazard to go to unless you've had a flu shot (dangit, I haven't had one yet), and with all the contact stuff we do, I'm surprised I only caught a bad cough. I got two days off from school, one from being slightly sick (my sister being the sicker of the two of us, thus I had to tend to her every whim -_-) and I got another day off for recovery (school policy; sick one day you get the next off to make sure you're totally recovered so it doesn't spread). Then, on Monday, I felt woozy at school and went home. By the time I was going to bed that night, I had a one- hundred and three degree fever. GAH!  
  
Review Responses:  
  
Shadowkitsune - *blink* Hey, you can't do that to fangirls! They're what makes the anime world. . .the anime world. O.o; And I don't think you're as good at torture as I am. *huffs* Ever heard of the pinata trick? *bursts into insane giggles*  
  
DragonStar - Eh, the necklace idea was scraped and I did another idea. . .The stinkin' beads were too freakin' expensive. *pouts* Well, hey, what can I say, I figureed Haruka saying that would be better than them freaking out, since it's slightly funnier.  
  
Carrie - Whoo, you're a devoted fan. *smile* Here's the next chapter, then.  
  
One Winged Kuja - Yes, I've already read and reviewed that. *grins* Thanks! Oh, I'll never give up hope on my fics unless they are beyond fixing, in which I shall delete them and try to re-work them.  
  
Jacqui10 - Yay, I've a super-honest reviewer! *dances around happily before throwing confettii* I was waiting for someone to say this fic isn't perfect. In truth, I was getting a bit freaked out by all the nice reviews and no flames. O.o Glad you liked how I did Inuyasha. *giggles insanely*  
  
Firenze - Erm, yeah, thanks. *blink*  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Oh, Rei isn't really leaving. . . .*whisltes innocently*  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - Hyperer? *sweatdrop* Um, yeah. you have a interesting vocabulary there. . . You really think the chapter was awsome? Spiffiness. And we'll just have to see what Sesshoumaru thinks. Of course Rin's happy to have a friend to play with. . .After all, it can get tiring, torturing Jaken and all.  
  
Tenshi-Hotaru - Thanks! Yes, it is. Minako is almost the comic relief of this story. . . Hey, even I don't know where Setsuna sent Rei, and I'm the one writing this thing. . .  
  
fanfiction fanatic - Yes, there are. Yeah, maybe. And thanks. ^^  
  
Well, I hope you all enjoy this (somewhat) long-awaited chapter. And I'm probably going to hit a good one-hundred reviews once I get this chapter out, oh Kami-sama. *dies* I'm getting famous!  
  
(the belated) KEY:  
  
"talking" (quite obviously)  
  
'thinking' (another giveaway)  
  
(author's notes) (couldn't you tell by now?)  
  
*******  
  
Kagome bit her lower lip nervously, still wondering where her cousin had gone.  
  
"I really think we should go search for her! She's probably hurt!"she whined, bouncing on her heels to release some of her nervous energy.  
  
"Shut up already so we can get going!!"Inuyasha yelled at her.  
  
Kagome sent a glare at him before shouting out the imfamous phrase she loved to death, "Osuwari!!"  
  
With a loud wham, Inuyasha was re-aquainted with the dirt for the umpteenth time that week.  
  
Kagome grinned in satisfaction, some of her stress dying down from yelling that phrase.  
  
"And that is how I release stress!"she stated proudly, marching off to pack her things.  
  
*******  
  
Setsuna motioned Hotaru over.  
  
"We're going Hotaru!"she called.  
  
Hotaru turned her head to pout at Setsuna before smiling, waving goodbye to Rin, and running over to Setsuna.  
  
"So soon?"Hotaru whined, pouting once again at her adoptive mother.  
  
"We've been here for a good two hours, Hotaru. We need to get back home, otherwise Haruka and Michiru will worry."Setsuna said, taking Hotaru's hand. (Hotaru's about. . . .nine in this fic. Hey, nine year olds sometimes hold their parents hands! . . .Despite me never being one of'em. O.o)  
  
"Okay."Hotaru sighed, "But we can visit again, right?"  
  
"We'll see."Setsuna replied, tugging Hotaru along gentley.  
  
"Okay!"Hotaru replied, still not knowing that 'we'll see' usually meant that it most likely wouldn't happen.  
  
*******  
  
Gathered at the shrine was the whole group of Sailor Senshi -well, at least those who were in present-day Japan. This included all of the inner senshi, minus Rei, and two of the four outer senshi, those being Haruka and Michiru.  
  
Ami laid out the scannings she had printed out just a second ago in front of Luna and Artemis.  
  
"As you can see here, the well we spotted, which can be found at this coordinate, is giving off high energy readings, much to our amusement."Ami said, pointing out things here and there on a sheet and a map of the shrine.  
  
"Yeah, and the old guy said there was nothing in there, so he was totally hiding it from us!"Minako piped up.  
  
Ami sighed, "Anyway, from a few inferences and other such things, we figured Rei either jumped into the well herself or was dragged and tossed into there by force. Either way, she probably landed in there, but we have no clue what would happen if we were to jump into the well itself."  
  
Luna scanned the statistics on the sheet, "Setsuna might know what these readings are."  
  
"Why is that, Luna?"Usagi asked, walking over and looking at the jumbling numbers and stats.  
  
"These,"Luna began, pointing her paw to some jibberish or other, "Are time waves. Unlike other waves in the atmosphere, these waves are of the lowest, most undetectable in level. Quite a clever little masking trick, if you ask me."  
  
Ami nodded, "Ah, I see. Very interesting."  
  
"Awhatawhat?"Usagi asked, blinking in slight confusion.  
  
Everyone could almost see what would happen if Rei was still herE: she would roll her eyes from her spot opposite of Usagi before reaching out and whacking the blonde across the head.  
  
"Itai!"Usagi would've whimpered, tending to her head, which could've had a comical lump forming on the spot she was hit.  
  
Sadly, everyone snapped from that reverie.  
  
"Well, if you ask me, there's more likely than not some other way Rei might've disappeared,"Makoto began,"Who knows, she could've just decided to hide her energy readings from us so we couldn't track where she was going."  
  
"True, true."Luna agreed, nodding her head slightly.  
  
"Well, check out this sheet."Ami said, placing another sheet in front of the dark-colored feline, who's eyes immediantly began scanning to page.  
  
Every fell silent as the cat scanned the page, her eyes running rapidly over every word and managing to absorb their meanings in less than a second. In a few minutes, she was done.  
  
". . .So??"Usagi asked the question that plagued everyone.  
  
"Traces of Rei's magic was sensed near the well, though it was very old, it appears. As if it was used long ago, yet refused to disperse for some reason of other."Ami explained for Luna.  
  
"And that means?"Usagi asked.  
  
"It means, hime, that Rei was simply sent to another time."a more elegant voice pitched her two cents in.  
  
All heads turned to spot Setsuna carrying a sleeping Hotaru, a small smile gracing the delicate feature sof the time guardian.  
  
"Setsuna, what're you doing here? And how'd you know about Rei? And do you even know where Rei is? And is she safe? Hm?"Usagi asked, letting the flurry of questions fly.  
  
Setsuna sighed lightly, laying Hotaru on a vacant couch just big enough for the young girl, before walking over to the table the group was gathered around and looking over the papers.  
  
"Ah, seems you've been investiagting the Higurashi shrine."Setsuna said, smiling her infamous 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' smile.  
  
Haruka stared hard at Setsuna before speaking, "You're doing it again. . ."  
  
"Doing what again?"Setsuna asked, much too innocently for herself.  
  
"Smiling! L-like that!"Haruka said, quite childishly, pointing an accusing finger at the older, garnet-eyes woman who ruled over time.  
  
Michiru sighed before whapping her partner over the head for behaving like a three year-old child.  
  
"Grow up, Haruka."she sighed, exasperated.  
  
Haruka just gave Michiru a mock-hurt look before resuming her usual Haruka attitude.  
  
"Answer my questions, onegai, Setsuna?"Usagi asked, going puppy-dog eyed.  
  
Setsuna sighed, caving in, for now, "I'm here to check up on how everything is going, I know everything, yes, yes, and there."  
  
Usagi paused, recalling her questions and ticking off to see if she wanted those answers before speaking again, "Hey! At least tell us where Rei is!"  
  
"I'd love to, but. . .she had personal business to take care of. She's very busy and shouldn't be disturbed."Setsuna replied wisely.  
  
Haruka's eyebrows shot up, "I highly doubt that."  
  
Michiru whacked the sandy blonde on the back of the head again, "Trust her on these matters, she's the all seeing guardian of the time gates!"  
  
All others in the room with dignity sweatdropped at the antics, not quite used to the two most calm people acting this way.  
  
Ami gathered the papers together, straightening them once before pulling off her glasses, smiling lightly up at the group before standing, sliding her glasses into her pocket.  
  
"I really hate to march off like this, but I must be going. I have a very important session at my tech school."Ami said, smiling once more at the group before waving at everyone and leaving.  
  
"Well, we shall have to continue this meeting tomorrow, then. Until then we have more time to research any places Rei might've gone."Luna announced.  
  
Everyone nodded and the chatter started up on what their next move was.  
  
*******  
  
Rei took a deep breath and looked at the door that had appeared in front of her.  
  
"Setsuna wouldn't trick me. . .would she?"she asked aloud, wincing slightly at a sound of some creature in the distance.  
  
. . .Wait, since when were their monsters running around in the Time Stream? Unless Setsuna forgot to mention something. . .  
  
Rei sighed, deciding not to ponder the matter and to just make haste, not wanting to find out what exactly produced the sound far off in the distance. She did not want to become chow for some unknown monster.  
  
Rei grasped the handle of the door firmly, slowly twisting it, holding her breath for some reason. What was she so very much anticipating? Or was she getting some kind or reluctance to leave the place she had become so aquianted with? She shook her head and rid herself of any of these thoughts, her breathing returning to normal as she pulled open the door, which, for some odd reason, seemed very heavy and refused to open easily for the fire soldier. Narrowing her eyes in determination, she put one foot against the frame of the door and tugged harder at the knob. With that, the door flew open, Rei flying backwards from the sudden willingness of the door to succumb to her persistant tugging.  
  
Rei blinked in slight confusion before regaining her senses a few seconds later and standing, brushing off anything that might've gotten onto her outfit. Once fully satisfied that there was nothing on her outfit (and realizing, quite unhappily) that she was just stalling unconciously, she walked up to the door, the light coming through it seeming like it could blind. And so she stepped through, wondering if she really should turn back right now.  
  
She shut the door firmly behind her once she felt solid ground beneath her feet and sheilded her eyes from the blinding sun emitting pleasent waves of heat in this cool weather. From within the darknes of the time stream, the figures moving about her seemed to be nothing more than sihouettes.  
  
"Rei?"  
  
She spun around to see who it was.  
  
*******  
  
Well, this is where I end it. I wanted to get this out before the official start of most of the holidays. Tee hee. ^^ I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!  
  
Now, I shall be out now so I can work on the next chapter for this while I can and the chapters for other stories I'm working on. Yayness for multi- tasking!  
  
Happy holidays and best wishes to all the readers out there! 


	10. Oh Dear, Inners Are Up to Something

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: Owning either anime would mean I'd have enough money to make my hair look better than this mess or fluff. -_-)  
  
Well, sorry for the slight delay in the coming of this chapter, but writer's block snuck up on me and bonked me on the head with a frying pan of doomishness. Thus, I was given a severe case of writer's block. Plus I didn't know who I wanted Rei to run into. Then I fiigured out what I wanted to do with her and I started drafting this in my head and. . .taa daa! instant chapter.  
  
I hit one-hundred reviews last chapter. I'm proud of myself. ^^ I'm a very happy writer now. Never thought I'd get so popular of a fic. Tee!  
  
Review responses:  
  
Carrie - *blink* Erk? Praising ME?? Wow, someone's praising me. . . . .People, prepare for the end of the world. O_o  
  
Jennilyn Maxwell - Hope I spelled your name right. *blink* Erherm. Anyway, thankies!  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Hmm, you'll just have to see. This is going to be quite a fun chapter to do. And if it sucks arse, then I'll just have to revise it someday. *blink* That day not being today.  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - Ah, true, true, messing with people's heads is quite fun, plus it helps to pass the time! *blink* Hey, and careful with the bouncing, you'll go through the roof. O_o  
  
*sigh* The inner senshi going to the past? That would be a bit fun to do (hey, I just got a new couple pairing for some strange reason. . .it's one of the inners, not Usagi, who'll get with Sesshoumaru, and it's not Rei, either. *blink) but a bit hard. I'd bet you Minako would get on almost everyone's nerves fast (especially Inuyasha's, but that'd be fun to do), but it seems like a good idea. Now, how to go about that is an entirely different thing, though. so, to see if they are, you'll just have to wait and see.  
  
fanfiction fanatic - Thanks!  
  
fire! - Torch me? Aw, you wanna save that torch to toast a flamer I know will come around eventually. XD And don't cry. . . . .you'll get chapters soon enough.  
  
Amazing Grace777 - Eh, well, whatever. S'not like anyone minded. . .much. *cough* Eherm. Um. . .I don't like spaniels? o_o  
  
Tenshi-Hotaru - Tralala, that mistake was fixed. Error on my part for having a blonde moment (no offense to blondes, I know one who is very smart, made it into some private school. . .).  
  
angelwings6117 - As stated above, that was fixed. Yet again I was having a blonde moment. . .Cripes, I'm freaking CHINESE! Asians aren't supposed to have those moments. *sulks*  
  
Whew, well, onto the fic, which, hopefully, will be good. Tee hee, first chapter on this fic for the new year. ^^  
  
*******  
  
"Rei?"  
  
Rei blinked and rubbed her eyes, blinking to make sure she wasn't seeing things.  
  
"Usagi?"  
  
"Usagi? Who's Usagi? Rei, did you bump your head? And why aren't you transformed? It's court policy."  
  
Rei sighed, 'Dammit Setsuna, bad time to start this trickster thing on me. . .'  
  
"Princess,"Rei corrected herself, "Serenity, I'm not the Rei you think I am. . . ."  
  
"Rei, are you sure you didn't bump your head, you're acting different. . ."Serenity said.  
  
Setsuna was going to pay for sending Rei back a good one-thousand years into the past.  
  
"Um,"Rei paused, thinking of a liable excuse, "Serenity, the problem is. . .No I didn't bump my head and. . .I'm from the. . .future. . .Holy crap Setsuna's going to get pummeled when I get back to my rightful time."  
  
Princes Serenity the fifteenth, heir to the throne of the Moon Kingdom and soon-to-be-ruler of the Silver Millenium, stared at Rei funnily, in a very un-princess like manner.  
  
"Rei, you should lie down. If you're not feeling well, you should've just told me and-"Serenity began, but was cut off.  
  
"I'm NOT the Rei you THINK I am!"Rei snapped, quickly shutting her mouth. Yelling at the Princess was not a good idea.  
  
Serenity looked a bit hurt at that, but quickly recomposed herself, "You're right. Rei would never snap at me. Shall I call the guards then, trespasser?"  
  
Rei's eyes widened, "You wouldn't dare."  
  
"Technically, Rei, you are not one of the royal court, so, technically, you are trespassing on private territory."Serenity said.  
  
"But I AM technically one of the royal court!!"Rei argued, "I'm Rei's future self!!"  
  
Serenity stared at Rei beore speaking, "Why would Rei's future self come back here? Everything is in order, nothing can go wrong when mother's ruling," Serenity paused, then opened her mouth again, taking in a deep breath of air before shouting out, "GUARDS! TRESPASSER!"  
  
Rei yelped, "Tattle tail!" before running off to hide. Yes, Setsuna was going to get pummeled as far into the ground as possible when she got back to her rightful time.  
  
Realization hit Rei that she was in the rose garden's maze, a difficult place to navigate through as she found out, dashing around corners to run into dead ends or to seemingly go in circles as she found places she hadn't been in before.  
  
'Dangit, wish I had a few scrolls with me so I could burn these danged garden walls down.'she thought, dashing around another corner and nearly jumping for joy when she saw the exit. Sadly, her joy was short lived as two guards came into view, effectively blocking her only escape.  
  
"Argh!"she yelled, letting out a few curses before skidding to a halt, pulling out her transformation pen, "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"  
  
The light flashed and the fire flared to life from the pen in her hand. Once the flaring red light had died down, Super Sailor Mars stood in all her glory. Wasting no time to strike the customary pose that happened after said transformations, she continued running before crouching down slightly, just before she reached the guards, and jumping over the garden walls with apparent ease.  
  
"Good grief, for once those high jumping skillls are put into good use!"Mars said with a grin as she landed gracefully on her feet, cringing slightly at the pain that resulted from her hard land on heels. Brushing off the small pain that had run up her legs just moments before, she took off again, hoping to make it to a safe spot soon.  
  
'Dammit, why must I have the worst of luck these days?!'Mars thought, letting go of her transformation for now as her fuku seemed to melt away and go back into the clothes she was wearing, which she realized were probably dirty as heck from all that time spent in old Japan.  
  
"ARGH! Why me?!"  
  
*******  
  
Usagi sighed as she flipped abesnt-mindedly through some manga she had read a good three-hundred times in the past two years.  
  
Usagi Tsukino was bored. Very much so, as she didn't even feel up to reading one of her favorite manga. Which was very un-Usagi like.  
  
"Okay, I think I've got something!"Makoto shouted gleefully from the computer she was sitting at. Thank the great deities of the heavens Ami tutored her on how to use computers.  
  
"Yes, wonderful lead you've found, Makoto!"Luna cried, happy they were making progress, even without Ami's brains to help them crack codes and such.  
  
"What've you two found?!"Minako asked, popping up next to the two of them.  
  
"So far we're tracking some of Rei's magic detected near there, though it's old, and some of Setsuna's magic around the same area. We're guessing that's where they were in the past."Makoto said, pointing to a few spots on the map of Japan.  
  
Minako blinked, "Seriously? So we've found a lead? YES! Um. . .now what do we do?"  
  
"We wait for Ami to come back so we can send you two out to investigate more."Luna replied.  
  
"Oh. . . .Dang, and I was hoping we could take action immediantly."Minako sighed, pouting.  
  
"Well. . .We could always use the Luna Pen. . . ."Makoto said, giving a furtive glance to Usagi who had taken interest at that moment, "To make Usagi or somebody look like Ami's mom. . . ."  
  
"Ah! We could say it's urgent she come out of school!"Minako supplied.  
  
"I don't think this-"Luna began.  
  
"It's a great idea! Then we can all go to the shrine and investigate!"Usagi piped in, letting her manga fall to the floor as she clapped her hands gleefully.  
  
Luna sighed. She was obviously not going to get her say in, and, even if she did, it wouldn't matter, as she would just get out-voted anyway. Such was the life of a guardian or stubborn-willed soldiers, she decided, hopping off of the table and exiting the room.  
  
"Be careful when you do investigating. Tell me when you're going to leave for the shrine."she requested as she exited, thus leaving the teens to do as they pleased.  
  
"Let's go!"Usagi crowed, jumping up and digging into her pocket before pulling out her trusty old Luna Pen, which had been long forgotten and unused.  
  
*******  
  
Rei breathed out a soft breath she hadn't realized she had been holding in as she found the next hallway around the corner to be deserted. For some reason she had been drawn to this plain looking hallway, lined with a silvery-blue carpet and silver linens hanging from the walls.  
  
Stepping lightly and making sure to be as silent as a predator stalking its prey, she inched towards the door, every second seeming like a minute as she continued to move towards her goal.  
  
With luck, there would be something good or, better yet, nothing behind the door. With no luck, she was sure to run into the top guard or an army of guards on the other side of the door. That thought made her pause from her soft stepping before she decided she would rather take the risk than let whatever was behind that door just sit around, waiting for someone to find it.  
  
Reaching the large doors built from a strong Lunarian material, she put her hand upon one of the fancy, decorated handles and took a deep breath. Whatever was on the other side of these doors, she would face with a calm face and the heart of any warrior.  
  
She pushed open the doors with all her force, and they flew wide open for her, clanging against the walls which they had been slammed upon.  
  
On the other side of the door was a brightly lit room, filled with shades of silver and soft, dull violet-blue hues.  
  
"Ah, nice to see you, Mars."a calm, serene voice filled with sincerety spoke from the other end of the large room, up to where the end of the carpet led.  
  
Rei's eyes followed the trail of the carpet slowly, as if not wanting to meet the eyes of the person who was at the other end of the room. Finally, her eyes met the end of the velvet carpet and she looked up into serene and calm eyes of a blue-violet hue, some grey mixed in to give them a soft tone.  
  
Queen Serenity the fourteenth smiled softly at Rei.  
  
Rei let out a small squeak and did the only thing she knew to do in front of royalty: bow. With that she slid upon one knee, her elbow propped upon the other, her head lowered.  
  
"You've no need to bow, Mars. And, I can quite obviously tell you aren't the Mars I know. . . . ."the queen trailed off, her soft voice still echoing quite loudly off of the walls, defying most laws of sound.  
  
Rei's head rose up, her own deep, passionate violet eyes meeting the blue- violet-grey of the queen's own eyes. Rei slowly stood up, eyeing the queen wearily.  
  
"D-do,"Rei cleared her throat in an attempt to regain her voice, which had decided to betray her by croaking a bit, "Do you know why I'm here?"  
  
"Ah, all too well, dear."the queen smiled softly.  
  
"And I'm definately in the past. . .before Beryl's attack. . . ."Rei paused, keeping note of everything around her, lest this be a trick.  
  
"Quite obviously."Queen Serenity replied, dipping her head slightly in a small nod.  
  
"Well. . . .C-could you tell me why I'm here?"Rei asked softly, lowering her eyes to the floor, not wanting to really stare into the gentle eyes of the queen. She felt too. . .dirty, and. . . .low, compared to Queen Serenity's natural grace and the feeling that just seemed to radiate from her, screaming she was of high power.  
  
"Easily. Pluto sent you here so we could talk."Queen Serenity's eyes brightened, "Oh, this is going to be so fun!" the queen let out a very non- queen like squeal of joy while she clapped her hands together.  
  
Rei sweatdropped. Why had she decided to open the doors was beyond her now. . . .  
  
*******  
  
Lalala! Well, that was fun to type. . .I think. *blink, sweatdrop* So, how's everyone thinking of this so far? Hope you're enjoying it.  
  
Queen Serenity is acting un-queen like at the end, quite obviously. Since we don't really know what she was like. . .I figured that since Usagi's such an innocent, bubbly little girl, the queen has the right to be like that once in a while, too! Y'know? So, whatever.  
  
Remember, the 'Queen Serenity the fourteenth' and 'Princess Serenity the fifteenth' were both made up numbers, seeing as we don't know how many predecessors they have, in all truth. But hey, when you say 'Queen {insert name here) the {insert number here}', it sounds much more impressive and regal. . .kind of. *blink*  
  
Well, I shall leave you for now! Ta ta, world! {-has been acting weird lately. . .well, weirder than normal} 


	11. Plots and Such

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: *pointed stare of doom* Yu huh. You know the drill. Or do I have to drill it into your heads again? *pause* Didn't think so.)  
  
*pause, sigh* Gee, I just found out something. . . .  
  
I'm getting used to not having anime in my life. Seriously, it bites. I'm losing interest in anime. *another sigh*  
  
So, how are things going for you all? I hope it's better than my life. . . .Things are definately falling apart with me, I can tell you that. I've turned into a nervous wreck of a girl. . . .*pause, shakes head* You probably don't care, though, do you?  
  
Ah, nearly forgot, review responses:  
  
Transcendent - Ah. . .uh huh. *sigh* Y'know, I've an old computer with an old version of WordPad. Thusly, it did not come installed with a spell- checking or grammar-checking program. Shame, not all of us grow money off of trees, no? Well, I'm poor, I'm falling to pieces, barely keeping myself from jumping off a damned cliff, and last but not least, probably failing flippin' school! Learn to deal, bub. Lastly, I'm on a freakin' mood swing, on all the possible days and times, a MOOD SWING! Leave me to my peace, no one SAID you had to read and review this fic. It's not MY obligation for you to have. You should've stopped after the first chapter if you hated it so danged much!  
  
Oh, and. . .How is this cliche?! Dangit, there haven't been THAT many of these fics made, from what I know! ARGH! . . . .I think I'm just going to jump off that cliff now so you can be a happy camper while everyone else dies of waiting, not knowing what the hell happened to the author. :P I'll leave it at that, smart ass.  
  
Firenze - Eh, yeah, yeah. . . .Well, you'll see. . . .hopefully. . . .  
  
Angel-eyes56 - *sigh* Yeah, yeah. . . . Uh huh. . . . .You'll see. . . .  
  
Jennilyn Maxwell - Thanks. . . .Yeah, poor Rei.  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - Thanks. Of course. Yeah. . . Whatever. . . . Probably, if I can figure it in. . . .  
  
*stares at open sky above head* Hm, guess I need a new studio. *sighs unhappily*  
  
Well, go on and enjoy the chapter. I'll try to keep everything up to the mood of things, but hey, I'm barely keeping myself up enough to act okay in front of my friends and crap. . . .so don't expect much. . . .*sighs and goes into the corner to work in peace*  
  
KEY: *updated*  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
{author's notes}, and (normal add-ins to the fic)  
  
*******  
  
Kagome winced slightly as she stared down at the well, wondering what she would say to her family and then to Rei's family about Rei's sudden disappearance.  
  
The reaction she'd get from her family would be. . .less than good, and the reaction from Rei's family would probably cause them all to have a heart attack.  
  
Kagome realized she was in for it, and that she was better off here, with her friends and bunches of random demons running around than in her own time, with several enraged people on her case, ready to rip her head off at a first glance.  
  
'Just my luck,' she thought with a sigh as she hefted one leg over the well. After all, it was the time she had promised to come home, and it wouldn't do her or her family any good to worry about what had happened to her.  
  
She continued to come up with liable excuses for her cousin's absence, hoping to come up with one before she encountered a member of her family.  
  
Kagome paused as she was about to heft her other leg over the side of the well, "Wait, she came here of her own free will, thus, I could say I never encountered her. . . ."  
  
She paused, letting that thought sift through her head before growling at herself, "Argh, I'm horrible at lying and everyone knows it! I could never say that and get away with it!"  
  
Kagome sighed, trying to draw out the length of her exit. . .or was it enterance? Well, either way, she just wanted to hide away from her family for a long period of time.  
  
"Oh, I hate it when I encounter these evil situations that just beg me to bash them into the ground."  
  
*******  
  
Needless to say, Rei was quite shocked with the reason Setsuna had sent her back here. It was to increase her power levels in every way, apprently, and that girl talk with the queen had been quite disturbing.  
  
'Never again will I let royalty talk to me on how to get a flippin' guy. . . .'Ri thought, shuddering as she stared down at the water in the fountain of the garden  
  
It wasn't all fun and games living for a while in the past. She had to make sure to stay away from herself. . .well, her part self and to not interfer or change the course of events with anything. Which, in truth, was harder than it seemed, because she had to glance down every corner ahead of time to see if her past self was there, and dodge questions shot at her by anyone she happened upon that knew she wasn't the Rei of this time.  
  
Apparently being sent back in time had totally ruined her internal clock. Otherwise someone or something was just screwing with her, because after staying in the past for what seemed like only a few days, it was announced she was going to leave. After a bit of protesting, it appeared she had stayed there for about three weeks for them. Which was confusing, seeing as the time Rei came from had the same amount of hours and such in a day as the time here in the past.  
  
She was to leave within the hour, and had already packed what little she had here: her henshin wand.  
  
Rei sighed softly. Being here resurfaced quite a few memories, but not enough to make things vivid. She was vaguely wondering if the other senshi were going to have this happen to her too, figuring it most likely would happen. After all, she was no more important than any of the others who were the guardians for the princess. And if she was, she sure as hell didn't know about it, and it surely didn't seem like anyone would be telling her anytime soon.  
  
The hour flew by quickly and soon Rei found herself standing in front of yet another intricately carved door (which, strange enough, looked exactly the same as the last one she had stepped through a few days ago). She wanted desperately to snort at the chances it would be, and had to remind herself to roast Setsuna's butt when she next saw the Time Guardian.  
  
The queen smiled softly at Rei, who then recalled how dear queeny had acted like when the two were alone. That was a disturbing thought, seeing how much the supposedly calm-queen acted like her daughter's future self.  
  
Rei sighed and turned back to the door, nibling on her lip. If Setsuna was pulling her through another loop, then Rei would roast the green-haired, all knowing senshi of time and space over an open fire for the world to see. Saving that thought for later, Rei paused as she lifted her hand. All this had branched from a simply visit to her cousin's house. If only she hadn't-  
  
'Wait, no time to think of the 'what if's. That's for those who cling to anything of their pasts and are hopelessly lost in their own presents.'Rei thought, shaking her head ever so slightly to clear her thoughts. She needed to concentrate on what was behind that door. Then that growl from just before she had stumbled out of the door hit her, and she hoped she wouldn't run into the owner of it.  
  
Once more she stopped her train of thought, effectively derailing it {Get it? Get it? XD}. She extended her arm the rest of the short distance between her and the door and quickly turned it, not wanting to hesitate and stay longer in this time that wasn't hers than nessecary. With a long, mental sigh, she tugged open the door, letting a gust of the winds from the Time Stream blow past her as the dark, mysterious depths of fog and mystery awaited her to step into their clutches and never release her.  
  
She glanced back once more, gave a short nod to the few people there to escort her away, and stepped into the door, which automatically shut by itself once she had stepped through.  
  
For some odd reason, Rei found that the normally more calm winds of the Time Stream was acting extremely harsh, causing her hair to whip about her face and smack her several times.  
  
"Remind me again,"Rei paused and blew some of her hair from her mouth {that always happens to me when I'm walking in the wind},"why I grew my hair out!!"  
  
*******  
  
Usagi and company stared up at Ami's tech school.  
  
"Why couldn't you be the one to use the pen, Minako?"Usagi asked, giving her hurt friend a glare.  
  
"Because I only used it once, and even then it was hard to get it to work since my energy readings are different than yours."Minako paused, "What did I just say?"  
  
Makoto sweatdropped and slapped her forehead with her hand, "You said, in more simply terms, it was hard to use the Luna Pen because your powers are different compared to Usa's."  
  
Minako blinked, "Ah."  
  
Makoto just sighed and shook her head, deciding not to make any comments. For once, she knew how Ami felt when hanging around one of the. . . less intellectual members of the group. This could seriously give someone a headache, she didn't know how Ami managed it and kept her stress and anger levels down to a minimum.  
  
Usagi and Minako were currently aruging on who should use the Luna Pen, Makoto staying out of it, saying she was too tall and the pen couldn't make you shorter or taller (the latter only by giving you heels), before Minako flipped out a coin and the two decided on a coin toss.  
  
"I call heads!"Usagi said immediantly.  
  
"Fine, tails for me."Minako agreed, flipping the coin into the air, the light catching off of it just right, making it glint quite radiantly, before it landed in Minako's outstretched palm and she closed a fist around it, flipping it onto the back of her other hand, as was tradition.  
  
"Heads!!"Minako cheered happily after glancing at the coin. Usagi pouted unhappily, cursing the fates that she had to go about this before reaching into her pocket and withdrawing the Luna Pen from it. She disappeared into some nearby forested area.  
  
Vaguely, the other two girls could make out the sound of Usagi shouting out the words that allowed her to change before a few lights flashed through the leaves and trees and she stepped out again, looking like a genuine copy of Ami's mother.  
  
"I hope you two are happy."Usagi growled.  
  
"Nu uh, make your voice a bit happier and softer, Usa! Gotta sound like Ami's mom, no?"Minako asked, provoking her blonde companion.  
  
Usagi hissed menacingly at her near-twin, but turned on her heel and marched up to the school, pausing suddenly.  
  
"Hey, I've got a better idea of what to change into. . . ."she said, an evil smile appearing on her lips.  
  
Minako and Makoto shared a glance between eachother, wondering what their princess was up to.  
  
*******  
  
*yawns* I'm tired, I'm bored, pardon me if I've got things running through my head about the disappointment of being a Poet of the Year nominee. . .and not getting to attend the convention that says who the winner is, down in Orlando, Florida. *pulls down a map and points to her spot on it, in St. Louis, and Orlando, way down on the boot of America*  
  
Ah well. 'Twas nice while it lasted, cruel world. I'm seriously on a depression streak.  
  
Anywho, this fic probably won't be updated for a long, long time. I've got to straighten out my life. And that takes a while. I need to make myself interested in anime as much as I used to be (if not more), repair broken friendships and those that have been lost by distance and time, catch up to work I continuously can't turn in for some reason or other (end of the semester! END OF THE SEMESTER THIS WEEK!), and make sure I can heal up my own turmoiled soul.  
  
Well, with that all said and done (hopefully you people have read that VERY IMPORTANT PARAGRAPH ABOVE), I shall leave you all for now. Hope that I can fix my life up soon. 


	12. Not Home?

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: Short and simple: I only own the plot. Ha.)  
  
Aww, thanks to all my loverly (yes, loverly, shaddup) reviews for being so patient with me trying to put my life back onto track. *grin* Aw, you all are much too kind to this little authoress who doesn't deserve so much attention.  
  
Anywho, since my break in the fanfiction world, I've tried to improve my writings skills by reading other, much better fanfiction (I worship those who have many a fan in this world). Taa daa, this new chapter is the result!  
  
Review Responses:  
  
Woodelf193 - Aww, thankies. ^^  
  
Pyro*Chic - Aww, really? Shame. Teee, another fan I've gotten. Yahoo! Glad to see how. . .enthusiastic about it you are. ^^  
  
SailorStar121 - Thanks!  
  
Piccolo'sVampirePrincess - Tsk tsk, if you had paid attention in earlier chapters, you would've found out the pairing was already decided as Rei/Sesshoumaru. *wags index finger accusingly* XD Okay, okay, whatever, ignore my extreme weirdness. It's a part of the recovery thingy I'm still going through. *shrug*  
  
Angel-eyes56 - Hmm, well, you'll probably find out. And good question, I'll ponder that while typing this thing up.  
  
Tenshi-Hotaru - Yes, exams week is a total pain in the arse, neck, and every other area that can be pained in that phrase. I don't have them yet, I'm in middle school. . .still. *blink* What, okay, I'm young, big deal?! Well, thanks! Tee hee. Yes, a shame it was cut so short. An hey, I updated in. . .what? Three or so weeks' time? Whatever. *blink* That's a pretty quick recovery on my part, if you ask me (it usually takes a me a good month or so to fix my life up during these times. . .)  
  
angelwings6117 - Naw, throwing 'Harry Potter land' into the mix would make things overly confusing and then I'd have to configure that series' characters in, make the plot fit so that they also can do stuff that effects everyone in the story (or at least a few major charaters), transport them to Japan (or the Japan characters to England or wherever they're located at the time), make sure that at least one character in either's series knows the other's native language (Minako's an easy one to use, though, since her Sailor V experience in England. . .), and yadda yadda yadda. XD Long list. Anywho, thanks for the recommendation, though I couldn't really see it seeing as I had no way to access it (in my town, anime is a rare thing to run across besides dubbed Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokemon stuff *shudder*).  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy - Thanks!! Ah, yes, Usagi and her evil grins combined tend to end up in situations that either embarrass others, gets people in trouble, or ends up making her have a huge screw-up in some way, shape, or form. Pocky and plushies?! Mmm, nice combo. Ah, trying to figure out how to fix my life? XD Aw, thanks. This one will hopefully be as great, if not better.  
  
fanfiction fanatic - *glomps onto you, ignoring the strange looks from passerbys* Aw, thanks! Nice to have someone who understands the problem on hand to talk to. ^^ Well, I hope your friend gets better soon, too. She/he deserves to bounce back into the world of happiness! Yes, I've always remembered that, and always will. Gee, thanks for being so generous and stuff! I'll always keep a note in my book that you're the person to talk to when I need to let something out! *grins and hands you an overly large bag of spiffy things* Tee hee, you deserve it!!  
  
I nearly lost my ear floppy that holds all of my recent story stuff. *huggles floppy* Oh, I nearly had a heart attack, my poor, precious floppy disk! . . . .Don't ask, after effects of my little life-gathering stage. -_-; Now, onwards, to the fic!  
  
*******  
  
Rei gentley shut the door that had led her to whatever time she was currently in shut with a soft click, and with that, the fancy door seemed to almost evaporate into little flecks of its former sel, floating upwards and into the sky before disappearingf. Rei had never reallly noticed that before, and just decided it was for show. After all, no one said you couldn't have flashy effects equipped to your powers.  
  
Rei finally decided to take notice of her surroundings and looked around, hoping to spot a tall skyscraper or two, or maybe even another person dressed like herself and not the old garb that she had seen those people wear in the past.  
  
Spotting nothing around that could give her a clear idea on what time period she was in, she patted her pockets to make sure that her henshin pen was still tucked safely in her pocket in case she was to need it. Satisfied it was there, she decided to start walking to find out where she was, because, in all truths, standing in the middle of what was apparently a forest wasn't going to get her anywhere.  
  
Frowning when she realized her attire wasn't exactly fit for walking through the underbrush and shrubbery of a forest-like place, she wondered how many scratches she would accumulate from all the low branches her legs were bound to scrape against. Brushing off the thought and figuring that nothing could really hurt her that bad, she continued on through the shrubs and such, hoping to run into modern civilization soon.  
  
"I'm really starting to regret accepting the invitation to stay with my relatives. . ."Rei grumbled out loud, realizing that if she had indeed declined the letter, she could be at home, sweeping the shrine right now or doing a fire reading or homework or things like that. "I swear I expect the cameras, the cameramen, and the director to jump out anytime now, yelling 'Cut!' and saying that was a rap on this strange movie that is my life."  
  
*******  
  
Makoto sighed and stared at the disguise Usagi had decided to take on. The brunette vaguely wondered where her friend got these crazy ideas from, but figured that trying to figure out how her friend's brain worked would give her too big of a headache, which was the last thing she needed and wanted right now.  
  
Usagi, being the total genuis she was (which would have any person who knew her well roll their eyes), had decided to look like a. . . .  
  
"Police officer?!!! Usagi, looking like a qualified police officer?! What are you THINKING?!"Minako screeched.  
  
Usagi shrugged, "Well, won't it be awsome, though? Y'know, to see her stunned face?"  
  
Makoto slapped a hand to her forehead, not willing to comment on the small argument going on between her two blonde companions. Besides, it wasn't like SHE had the capabilities to disguise her own form. She had no knowledge on the subject, basically.  
  
"Maybe you should just go with school attendent? Or doctor? Either of those would've, no doubt, worked better."Makoto said, finally deciding to pitch in her two cents (or yen*, depending how you looked at it).  
  
"Well, I like to go in with a bang, y'know?"Usagi asked, striking a pose.  
  
"We know, but a police officer asking for a certain, quiet, very innocent Ami who's never commited a real crime in her life, unless it was to save another or something would look slightly suspicious, even a bit weird."Makoto said, pointing out the faults.  
  
"Um, well, you do have a point there. . . ."Usagi said, tapping her chin thoughtfully before fixing the cap upon her head, making sure to tuck some stray blonde curls behind her ears that escaped the bun her hair was in.  
  
"Well, the outfit does have colors that compliment you!"Minako said, pointing out a factor that only she would notice during a time like this.  
  
"Really? Spiffy!"Usagi grinned. {I doubt they say 'spiffy' in Japan, but hey, I can and will use it. *huff*}  
  
Minako grinned at her companion while Makoto let out yet another long, suffering sigh of defeat. Now she REALLY knew how Luna and Ami felt. How did they put up with these two again?  
  
*******  
  
Rei growled as she kicked a random branch out of her path, quite ready to Fire Soul the next thing living, moving, and breathing thing that came into site. She was feeling quite tired, and wasn't up to walking through the bushes to get anymore scrapes other than the numerous ones already upon her formerly unscatched legs.  
  
"I am going to Fire Soul Setsuna so hard she'll land on Pluto!"Rei yelled out, stomping her foot on the ground and folding her arms over her chest, acting quite like a five year old child would when declined of a toy, doll, or other item they had wanted desperately. Yes, it seems that Rei Hino had finally reached the last straw and her normal, more calm self had disappeared into the backround, whimpering in fear of her angry self.  
  
Rei, who had just pictured this, sweatdropped at the mental image and resisted the urge to roast the nearest tree into a pile of ashes. She had to keep her temper in check or she'd turn this whole place into nothing more than a barren wasteland with bits of ashes that would probably be blown away in a matter of minutes.  
  
Taking a few, deep breaths and counting to ten in her head, she finally regained control of her senses and decided a logical thing to do would be to walk in a straight line through this forest until she hit a path. And, even if she didn't happen upon a path, she'd eventually find her way out of her, thus most likely encountering a person and finding her location at that point before trudging home.  
  
"There, perfect plan!"Rei announced proudly to herself, not caring she was speaking aloud. After all, it wasn't like there was anything or anyone around to hear her and point and mumble about her being crazy. Besides, everyone was crazy in their own ways, but no one had come to realize that point yet.**  
  
Rei shook her head, realizing this was definately not the best of times to get caught up in her own thoughts and that she was straying from the goal at hand. She was definately going to give Setsuna a few good whacks on the head with her broom when she got home, that was for sure. She was acting too out of character, and that was weird for her.  
  
Rei continued her treck, but paused when the wind seemed to kick up a little and brush her face, cooling off the heat that had slowly begun to build within her from doing all the walking. Rei found it a bit suspicious when the wind kicked up a notch too high for a normal breeze.  
  
"Wind definately does not act like this. . . ."she mummured, glancing around the forested area she was still in. "A normal breeze only kicks up a little, not to the feel of being this strong. . ."  
  
Rei's hand automatically reached for her henshin pen. It was her unconcious comfort to reach for it and grasp it when she felt uneasy. It seemed to replace her old ofudas, since she always ran out of those, yet could never run out of this one item. It was hers, her comfort item, in ways. And she kept a firm grasp on it, keeping a wary eye on her surroundings as she continued to move onwards.  
  
If she was back in the time of those demons, she was definately NOT going to let one ruin her way home. She would kick some butt, roast some serious arse, and continue on her way, plain and simple. She could handle it, this was supposed to be easy. She was capable of it. What kind of priestess would she be if she couldn't handle a demon?  
  
Just to be safe, she paused, letting her other senses other than her eyes take control. Her ears picked up the faint, but quickly moving, sound of the wind in the distance, but the current wind in her ears made it hard to define if it was natural or not. She was definately not going to smell anything; she didn't have a trained nose like a dog or whatever. Her sense of feel wasn't getting her anywhere besides giving her the fact that this wind hurt when it made her hair whip and whack her face. But, her sixth sense, as some would put it, her techincal extrasensory perseption***, was giving her the hint that there was something out of the ordinary coming her way, and quite fast at that.  
  
"Gee, Haruka'd be proud and jealous of whoever could move that fast. . ."Rei muttered out of the blue, shaking her head to rid herself of those random thoughts that seemed to be popping into her head more and more often these days. "Mustn't get distracted, dang it!"  
  
The wind seemed to intensify even more than before, and Rei gritter her teeth as she stooped low to the ground, pulling out her henshin wand. Demon or not, she was going to get blown away if she didn't do something to stay grounded. Ironically, she never thought she'd hear herself say she wanted to stay grounded.  
  
She was about to utter the words that would help her become her other self, the part of her that was ancient and old as the dirt itself, that was always asleep when she was like this, but her wand was suddenly knocked from her hands from the intense wind and she yelped.  
  
"Good grievances****!"she yelled as she chased after it. "Shimatta!! Why does everything have to happen to me?!"  
  
The pen merely rolled further from her grasp as if to spite the raven- haired teen. Rei then safely assumed some deity up in the heavens hated her with a passion and this was a plot to ruin her life.  
  
Rei was nearly to the pen when she yelped suddenly as she was pulled away from it, screaming random obscenities and such to whatever had dragged her away form her one piece linking her to the past she once had.  
  
Rei looked down at where she was being held captive and noticed arms wrapped tightly around her waist, enough to hold her still in there, yet not enough to let her suffocate. She promptly glared at the arms.  
  
"Let me down or I swear to the high heavens I'll make a roast out of you!!"Rei screeched, now very angry that she had lost her one and only henshin pen and that she was being dragged farther and farther away from it by the second, which, as you should all have figured out, was not a good thing.  
  
Rei attempted to pry the arms off of her waste when they didn't budge before she folded her arsm across her chest, furtively digging a hand into her shirt to pull an ofuda scroll that she concealed in her bra. Upon pulling it out, she grinned devillishly.  
  
"Aku ryou tai san!"She yelled fiercely over the sweeping winds around her, letting the parchment glow a bit with some of the energy she fused into it before slapping it backwards onto whatever it was that had a firm hold on her.  
  
The wind promptly died down and Rei was dropped, ending up falling onto the ground with an 'oof!' before looking up at what she had just stuck an ofuda onto.  
  
*******  
  
A loud yell could be heard from quite a distance away, the original sound coming from the Higurashi shrine, sitting atop the long line up steps and leading to the seemingly calm area.  
  
Birds flocked away as another loud, resonating yell came from the living area of the shrine grounds.  
  
"Rei's MISSING?!"  
  
Kagome winced, taking a small step away from her enraged mother and grandfather.  
  
"Um. . . .something to that effect. . . ."  
  
It seems Setsuna had failed to tell Kagome where Rei had been.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?! Go back there and GET HER!"  
  
Kagome whined a little, "But, can't I at least take a bath or something? And restock on supplies??"  
  
"Supply restock, yes, bath, no. Now GO!"  
  
Kagome winced once again before making a beeline for the kitchen to gather up some food items.  
  
Maybe she should've stayed with her friends in the past a bit longer. . . .  
  
*******  
  
*The Japanese currency  
  
**It's true. Seriously! Everyone is crazy, but in our own minds we have created our own definitions of sane, and, thusly, those we consider sane are ourselves and maybe a few others, yet, in reality, all of us are 'wrong in the heads'. If you didn't get that, then. . . I can't explain it any better.  
  
***That's ESP for you less-knowledgeable people.  
  
****Okay, so I twisted Charlie Brown's little phrase around just a tad bit, so sue me (no, don't I'm poor)! But I liked it. I came up with it, kind of. So whatever.  
  
I'm seriously tired. I laughed way too much over at my friend's house. Bleah. *is wiped out* Must not laugh too hard whenever I'm over there from now on. (See, there is total proof I have a social life. . . .That cheesecake in my hair should be enough, though. Don't ask.)  
  
Well, anyway, hope y'all enjoyed that chapter. I spent all night typing it (taking breaks for an hour or so at a time to do other things and crap). And then I went to bed. And now, 'tis the next day and I'm quickly typing up this author's note for all of you to read. Yay!  
  
This chapter was a bit longer than usual, so I hope it turned out pretty good. ^^ I'll try to get the next chapter up in the next three weeks. And if I don't, then feel free to call the police. *nodnod*  
  
Hmm, I really must get to completing that Orlando Bloom picture for my friend. . . .Apparently, if you stare at the picture long enough, it talks to you. *blink, shrug* I don't know about the rest of the female population around my age group up to their thirties, but I, personally, am totally immune to the looks of Orlando Bloom. *gets pelted by rotten fruit from fans*  
  
*brushes off fruit* Well, best to let all of you off for now. I'll see you next chapter!! 


	13. Anger Management

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: Whoah, you've forgotten already, dear reader person? Tsk tsk, check the first chapter for all the legal stuff I've said. . . .In fact, check basically any chapter except this one.)  
  
Well, here's the new chapter! Hope everyone enjoys this one, it's probably going to be fun (but what should I know, I'm just the lousy authoress here). Well, at least I hope it's going to be fun, and if it is, spiffy (Two of my friends banned me from saying that, 'nifty', 'good grief', and something else, dangit. I'll hurt you, Aud. . .and I'll have to interfere in Em's non-romance life. Bwaha)!  
  
Review replies:  
  
Jacqui - Whoo, hope I got your name right there. Yey, I have improved, somewhat! *cheers* Heh, I don't mind the 'going-all-Oprah' on me. It's fine (trust me, the counciler at school does much worse during his lectures. . . .making us watch Dr. Phil. . . .gah. . .). Well, I guess you got your. . . .hypothesis right, then. Heh. Kudos to you! *hands over virtual cookie*  
  
Oh, dang, you're yet ANOTHER fan of his?! Gah. I'm surrounded! *sighs* Eh, at least you can't constantly pester me about it for seven (or more) hours of the day. *happy sigh of relief*  
  
Tenshi-Hotaru - Yeah, I'm in middle school. Tch, and I'm in one in the danged U.S. of A. (that. . .probably came out the wrong way to some of you readers O_o Dang, I didn't mean it in a MEAN way! I'm a loyal American). Anywho, you don't seem like a stalker. I know two people who've been stalked and you are far from one (plus being stared down by two grown men while walking home from school helps you to know what is and isn't stalker- material O_o. Yes, that happened to me!). Yes, I loved that line. I think it's pretty original to have that in there. . . . Yeah, Makoto not being airheaded is a nice change. Minako and Usagi have the role of the 'dumb blonde' (no offense to blondes, really) in this fic. And, yea, you were right. Kudos to you, too. *hands you virtual cookie* I can't do any better than that! Heh.  
  
Firenze - Yes, yay for me! Heh. You think so? Great, I made people laugh! And. . .you didn't get it? Hmm. Two possible candidates. Take a guess of any wind-users in the Inuyasha series.  
  
Skittles the Sugar Fairy- Really?! Wowie! (No, I was not being sarcastic there, despite what people may say!) Tee! And yes, it IS quite fun to play around with Usagi's character. I like to make her the somewhat- comical relief. I think. *blink* And yes, I see. Heh. . .stop the evil laughter, my literature teacher does that enough. . . . .O_o;;  
  
fanfiction fanatic - Ah, well thanks for clearing that he/she thing up for me. Heh. . . .It seems the spiffy things shall forever remain as 'spiffy things' and nothing within the bag of said things shall be specified to the world, eh? Tee hee. Gah, laughing to much it hurts. . .hurts. You have asthma? Aah. And you get to hyperventilate a lot. . . .I do that too, despite not having asthma. . .*cough, flushes* 'Course, my own hyperventilating fits have been for more. . . .personal reasons. *flushes more*  
  
Well, that officially ends the review responses! Whoo hoo! *blinks* Well, enjoy this chapter, it'll hopefully be pretty humorous. Start panicking, though, the serious stuff is going to start coming up.  
  
*******  
  
Rei cringed slightly and shifted from her position on the ground. That land had not exactly been the most pleasent one of her life, and it probably could've gone better had she been able to recover her balance while falling in midair. She could vaguely bet she had a bruise on her bottom now from her fall.  
  
She pushes herself off of the ground, muttering expletives under her breath. Once fully stable, she began to brush off her clothes, vaguely wondering which direction she had come from and where her transformation stick had been left behind (or had rolled to, seeing as it had some weird thing about rolling away from its owner).  
  
'Well, no use standing here, might as well go search for that pesky stick!'Rei decided, lifting her foot to take a step forward when a groan behind her signaled that the unfortunate victim of her ofuda was still functional in the mouth.  
  
"Dang, I'm losing my touch. . ."Rei muttered, spinning on her heel, her hair flying about her beofre she stopped herself to face the victim.  
  
He looked. . .pretty angry, in all truths. He had black hair, tied back into a ponytail and wore brown furs, with some legwarmers and arm ones made from the same stuff. He had blazing blue eyes, was barefoot, and had pointed ears.  
  
'Like an elf.'Rei decided, though she was fairly wrong on that part. 'But those fangs he's baring beg to differ. . .'  
  
Indeed, he had a pair of sharp pointy canines bared in a snarl.  
  
'Okay, sharp canines that no human has, pointy elf-like ears, uses wind magic, and is weakened by an ofuda scroll. Definate demon.'Rei decided, shooting a glance at the demon, "Now, hostile or not is the question. . ."  
  
Rei was purposely speaking aloud. Whether is was to calm her nerves for being stuck in the past yet again, or to reassure herself that there was sound other than that of the leaves rustling in the trees, or just to aggrivate the demon, she didn't really know nor care about at the moment.  
  
Rei walked slowly up to the demon, taking her time, pausing about a foot away.  
  
"Too bad my powers are a bit weak in the psychic category. . .you'll only be frozen for a good two hours, if I'm correct. . . ."Rei spoke, walking around the demon slowly, as if examining him. "Though, it's plenty enough time to get away and cover my tracks. . ."  
  
The demon growled. Good, she was annoying it. That comforted her. Slighty. Angry demons were not exactly the best type of demons to deal with.  
  
Rei knelt down next to demon's face.  
  
"Okay, I'm going to rip the parchment from you. If you dare try anything, I swear I'll blow you into the next millenia, got that?"she asked, trying to reach a comprimise. Still, since she couldn't exactly access her powers, she was giving an empty threat. . .But hey, no one said that you couldn't transform without the thing, did they?  
  
From the small twitch of his head, Rei figured that was a yes and rabbed the parchment from where it had been stuck at: his forehead, and ripped it off with a loud tearing sound.  
  
"There."Rei said, letting the now useless ofuda parchment fall onto the forest floor where it burnt away into nothing (courtesy of her pyro powers).  
  
Rei stepped back and readied herself to run away if nessecary.  
  
"What the hell was that for, woman?!"the demon burst out suddenly.  
  
Rei blinked, "Um, well, want me to list them off? For one, starting up those fierce winds, two, for making those winds so strong they blew something VERY important from my hands, three, for grabbing me, four-"  
  
"I get it!"the guy sulked.  
  
Rei snorted, "Are you really that pathetic or is it just me?"  
  
"Hey! You shouldn't talk to me like that!"  
  
"And why not, exactly?"  
  
"Because your my woman!"  
  
Rei blinked. Maybe. . .?  
  
"Please don't tell me you think I'm Kagome. . . ."she sighed.  
  
". . . .You're not her?"  
  
Rei sweatdropped, wanting deperately to whack him in the head, but remained fairly calm, "Well, of course I'm not! Did you NOT notice the eye color or something? Or the hair length even? Hair color, too!" ' The guy first looked at her eyes (which he found out were a light, passionate violet that were definately not Kagome's deep blue ones), she did indeed have longer hair (which went a few inches past her waist), and her hair was tinted red (not the blue that could be found within Kagome's hair). His eyes widened.  
  
'Ah, here comes my favorite part. . .'Rei thought, mentally rolling her eyes.  
  
"You're not Kagome!!"  
  
Rei proceeded to smack her forehead with the palm of her hand at the stupidity of this guy, "Did I not just point that out?! I swear, even back in this era you men, demon or not, are as stupid as some of the ones from my time!"  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"And next to that, you're just as rude! You haven't even given me your name!"  
  
"Hey, you haven't given me yours either!"  
  
Rei paused, "Okay, so, big deal! I don't NEED to give out my name!"  
  
"I don't either!"  
  
"Fine! I'm off to search for a way out of here!"Rei yelled, quite ready to storm off in a huff.  
  
"Hey! Who said you could leave, wench?!"  
  
A vien popped out on Rei's forehead as her left eye began to twitch slightly, not like he would notice since her back was to him.  
  
"What did you just call me?"she asked in a low, threatening voice, not bothering to turn around.  
  
". . Woman?"  
  
"Beep! Wrong answer, Bob! An the prize for the loser is. . . .!"Rei yelled, spinning on her heel. The area around her became intensely warm and it seemed as if flames licked at her feet as she stormed towards him instead of going away from him, as originally intended. "A one-way trip to torment by flames!"  
  
She would've gone quite peacefully, oh yes, but he just HAD to go there and call her that. Now it was time to kick butt.  
  
By now, the demon was cowering, somewhat, away from Rei's wrath of flames.  
  
"Ah ah ah,"Rei began, wagging a finger teasingly in his direction, "No running away. The game's only begun!"  
  
Rei now officially knew what it felt to be the antagonist to the protagonist, and to her, it felt mighty good.  
  
Pulling out one of her parchments, she paused from her advancing upon the demon to begin her normal, quite simple chant to summon the power of the flame.  
  
"Aku. . . ."she began.  
  
The demon whimpered pitifully.  
  
"Ryou! Tai. . ."  
  
Cowering in fear, the demon stood up, trying to run away, but it was much too late for him.  
  
"SAN!"Rei yelled, the parchment bursting into flames at the very tiip and seeming to spread downwards to her fingers, where it didn't even singe her pale skin. With a quick flick of the wrist, she parchment went flying, and hit the demon square on the forehead.  
  
"Bull's eye. I win, you lose."Rei said simply, the air around her returning to normal and the imaginary flames licking at her heels gone. She smirked at the demon's way. "By the way, you've yet to tell me your name. . .though I'll find out, eventually."  
  
And with that, she spun on her heel, her hair whirling about her, and continued out of the clearing, knowing full well that her increase in energy would have that demon immobilized for a good four hours. The last glimpse the demon caught of her was her hair dissappearing around a corner in the nearby path.  
  
The demon's eyes trailed to where her feet had touched and notices small patches of the green grass was burnt into black ashes. Guess the flames weren't really imaginary. . . .  
  
*******  
  
Sailor Pluto shoved open the door that led her back to the present and slammed it shut behind her after she had let Hotaru in.  
  
"Setsuna. . . ."a warning voice said.  
  
Pluto looked up just as her outfit faded away into her normal clothes.  
  
"Yes, Haruka?"Setsuna asked.  
  
"Just why, exactly, did you have to access the Time Stream? We all know full well that there will be no major events that'll screw the place up until Crystal Tokyo. . . ."Haruka warned, folding her arms over her chest. "I can tell by the way you have that strange glint in your eye you are up to something funny! That running-out-on-us incident earlier was probably just an act!"  
  
"Well. . . ."Setsuna paused, "I. . . .um. . . ."  
  
Uh-oh, the great Guardian of Time and Space was stammering in front of the Soldier of the Skies. Of course, said Soldier of the Skies was bearing down upon the great Guardian of Time and Space with a menacing, dagger-like stare, thus intimidating the great Guardian of Time and Space, so it was clearly understandable.  
  
"Haruka, what in the name of Neptune is happening in here? I swear I heard a door slam shut with one of those bizarre echoes that only Setsuna could make happen. . . ."Michiru's head poked around the wall leading to the kitchen from the living room.  
  
Setsuna sent a pleading look to Michiru to save her from the wrath of Haruka, but Michiru shrugged.  
  
"Setsuna's little act earlier was really just an act. . . ."Haruka returned her glare back to Setsuna, "See! She's got that strange glint in her eyes that just screams out she's up to something!!"  
  
Michiru sighed, shaking her head as her full body came into view, following her head. She set down a towel on the table next to the doorway that led to the kitchen and walked up to the spot the others were standing around. Stopping at Haruka's side, she glanced up at Setsuna's deep, garnet eyes for a few seconds.  
  
"Well, would you look at that, she does have that glint in her eyes. . . ."Michiru mummbled, tilting her head to the side slightly in wonder. "This is an event! Oh, this has to be either very important or very non- important for her to have that glint in her eyes!"  
  
"I'm guessing it's more important than non-important."Haruka growled.  
  
Hotaru, who had retreated to hide behind the banisters of the staircase nearby, also tilted her head to the side.  
  
"Actually, Setsuna-mama's going to try and get Rei a boyfriend!"she said cheerily.  
  
Haruka blinked. Michiru blinked.  
  
"Rei? With a guy? That's very rich. I thought she said she hated men because they were pigs. . . ."Haruka said, snorting slightly.  
  
"Yes, well, the thing is, I think I've actually found someone that would be perfect for Rei!"Setsuna pleaded her case.  
  
"And just who is this guy, then?"  
  
"Well, I would love to show you, but that's very risky. So, you'll have to wait and see!"Setsuna covered up quickly. {Hey, I just came up with two weird pairings. . . .O_o Dang, I'll have to make a mental note of'em.}  
  
Haruka glowered down upon the Guardian of Space and Time. "You're kidding me, right?? How hard can it be to see just ONE FLIPPIN' GUY?!"  
  
Okay, maybe she was over-reacting just a bit, but still, having a Setsuna with a mischievious glint in her eyes was a bad things for everyone, whether it affected them directly or not.  
  
"Well, for one, he's a demon. . . . ."Setsuna began.  
  
"A DEMON?! What could have possibly hit you so hard in the head that you would set Rei up with a DEMON?? She is a priestess! He is a DEMON! Think!"Haruka snapped.  
  
"Yes, true. If Rei were to start developing her abilities as a priestess at a sudden rate, which she should be since the era of Crystal Tokyo is coming about, then she could accidentily purify this demon."Michiru cut in wisely with her two cents on the matter.  
  
"Ha!"Haruka said, triumphantly.  
  
"True, but by the time these two actually come together, her powers will have almost fully developed at that stage and she'll have almost total control over them."Setsuna put in her knowledge of the matter.  
  
"I thought you said you wouldn't look into other people's futures until you were sent back to guard the Time Gates for eternity. . . ."Haruka muttered.  
  
"Aha, don't remind me about that. . . ."Setsuna laughed nervously.  
  
Haruka rolled her eyes.  
  
Hotaru, meanwhile, had pulled out a book from heaven-knows-where and had begun to read it, knowing full well this arguement could go on for a while and she would be referred to every once in a while for evidence.  
  
*******  
  
Ami leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms high above her head, stifling a yawn and glancing down at her test (which was done and quite correct, since she had continuously re-checked it). She glanced up at the board, where extra-credit assignments for after the test were put. She had also been able to do those in no-time flat, and had checked over them quite a bit.  
  
'I guess it's time to turn everything in. . .'she decided, gathering up her papers and straightening them up.  
  
It was very quiet in this classroom, the students were always loaded down with work and were forced to concentrate on it otherwise they would never finish the assignment. It was definately what could be classified as a cram school. Ami was one of several hundred students in the district to take courses here, and was mainly working on getting her math, science, and geography skills up.  
  
The peace was disrupted when the door was abruptly shoved open, hitting theadjoining wall with a loud bang, and there stood a police officer. . . . .  
  
. . . .Who looked faintly like Usagi.  
  
'Oh, no, this had best be good Usagi, to interrupt my classes. . . .'Ami though, wondering how much she'd have to catch up with if she were to miss the remaining hour of class.  
  
"Is Ami Mizuno here?"officer Usagi asked in a stern voice.  
  
The class, as a whole, turned their heads to Ami's direction to stare at her, wondering what she'd done to get in trouble with the police. Ami flushed slightly and placed her papers on the desk, asking quietly for the teacher to compile a list of the assignments she'd need to catch up on next week before quietly making her way around the desks, to the police officer.  
  
The officer led her out of the room and shut the door firmly behind them, and it was there that the officer changed back to Usagi.  
  
"What the heck was that for?? I'm in the middle of my class here!"Ami hissed.  
  
"Well, we've got a plan to get Rei back!"Usagi squealed.  
  
"Really? Do tell. . . ."  
  
*******  
  
Taa daa! There ends Chapter Twelve! (. . .It IS chapter twelve, right? O_o;;) Anywho, it seems a bit short to me (ah well, I'm in the mood to type tonight, even though I've got a migrane AND am worrying some stalker- dudes are stalking me), but I guess it'll suffice.  
  
Hmm, it finally seems as though this fic is starting to fade from the spotlight. Whether that may be a good or bad thing, I shan't know as of now, but, oh, how I wish it was still popular!  
  
(I'm talking funny. Dang, must stop easily picking up lingo from the old days. . . .)  
  
Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Kudos to those who guessed the right person who had grabbed Rei last chapter, and for those of you who don't know. . .Well, you'll just have to wait until a later date to figure out what happened.  
  
Prepare for the serious stuff! It's coming up. I don't know how soon, but it WILL come up! . . .At least, that's what my inner-fic-writing self tells me. But what would that inner self know of? Ah, well, we'll just have to wait and see what comes from my tiny head, no?  
  
'Till next time, sayonara! 


	14. Will it Work?

Fire's Heart  
  
Ahknee/Kitteen  
  
(Disclaimer: . . . .Think of a witty one yourself, I'm all out of it.)  
  
Yatta, here's chapter thirteen! Hope you folks enjoy it. I think, stressing that word, that someone will be time traveling again, but I won't say who. Mwaha.  
  
I've been typing this chapter crippled, I had a paper cut on one of my fingers for half of the time and it BURNED whenever I used it to type! Grrr.  
  
I swear that someone has been slipping happy pills or something into my food for the past few weeks, I've been laughing more than usual.  
  
I've come to a conclusion. February and March are my official idiot months.  
  
To all my wonderful reviewers: I'd love to compile a long, great set of supplies to all my wonderful reviewers out there, but sadly, I'm on a time limit for this and, thusly, cannot type the reviews up. Ah well. The responses will be back next chapter!!  
  
Okay, now, onto the chapter!  
  
*******  
  
Rei nearly collapsed from exhaustion; she had been walking for about a day straight with only breaks to grab some edible fruit from trees or to drink from some fresh water from streams she ran across. She could almost picture how messed up she looked. Her clothes were so dirty and torn in so many places it seemed as if she was wearing dirt or mud or something akin to that, and her hair was probably so tossled it would most likely take an hour of washing it in water and another to comb it out back to how it was.  
  
'I hate wild life. . . .Where could my pen have gone. . .?'she pondered, finally collapsing onto the ground with a groan. It was night. She needed rest. And the ground was so much more comfortable than she thought imaginable. . . .  
  
"No!"she sat bolt upright, "I can't fall asleep, otherwise something will come out of the trees and eat me for a midnight snack!"  
  
But her body refused to move from that position. She was too exhausted. She had never gone this long without sleep in her lifetime. . . . But she knew she had to go on. It was survival of the fittest out here - as corny, cliche, and reality show-like it may sound - and she had to prove her worth if she wanted to live to see her next birthday and to see the smiling faces that her friends would greet her with when she returned home, and the huge grin her grandpa would have at her finally being back to help tend the shrine.  
  
She had to survive this. She had a life to go back to. She had people she cared about, and she needed to see them again. Besides, she had to survive to help keep up her duties, as much as she would hate to. It was her job, and she would keep to the promise she had kept so many years ago to her late Queen.  
  
Rei stood up, new defiance and a will to go on shining brightly within her eyes. She was supposed to be the one who kept the team going emotionally anyway, wasn't she? She could keep this up! She had had tougher training sessions when she went to train at that mountain! She had the willpower.  
  
And she marched on, her steps heavy from exhaustion and wear, but she kept on going, knowing that there was still something out there for her to live for.  
  
*******  
  
"So, run this. . . .plan by me again. . . ."Ami sighed out, rubbing her temples. These two made the plan sound more confusing than it was, and Makoto wouldn't say a peep about it. Maybe she was confused by it, too.  
  
"Well, we go the Rei's cousin's house thingy, then we invesigate since we got some tracks of Rei's powers there, and then we move on out from there!"Minako explained.  
  
"Ah."Ami nodded before turning back to the computer and typing away furiously. "Until you can formulate a more logical plan with better steps, I'll be investigating for any time-wavess that could possible make readings of Rei's magic so old."  
  
"Um, right."Usagi nodded.  
  
Ami continued to type, her eyes never leaving the screen as the two blondes in the room began to plot a more 'logical plan with better steps'.  
  
Makoto decided that cooking would help pass the time, and also figured that the gang was pretty hungry around now, so she headed off into the kitchen to whip something up for the group.  
  
A minute passed, the only sounds being the muffled ones of Makoto preparing food in the kitchen and the speedy click-clacking of Ami's typing.  
  
"I think I've found something. . . ."Ami said softly, waving the others over and calling for Makoto to come in the room.  
  
"Like what?!"Usagi asked, staring at the jumble on the screen with technical terms she couldn't really understand (or, morally, comprehend) as well as her blue-haired friend.  
  
"I was scanning the information and data I had gathered when we visited that shrine of Rei's cousin, and I found the weirdest signature of energy. . . .Similar to that of Setsuna's powers.  
  
If I have guessed correctly, then there is a time rip in that well house, but where exactly within is not clear. I managed to see some of Rei's power signature walking to there, and then it just disappears within the wellhouse. So, Rei walked right into some time portal that was unauthorized. Also, since the power signature is only a couple of days old, it means that the much older track was obviously one she made in the past era."Ami replied.  
  
Makoto nodded in some understanding, trying to make all of what she had gathered from Ami more simple, and thought aloud, "So, basically, in that well house there's a time rip Rei entered, and the rip leads to the past. Fun."  
  
With Makoto's simple statement, everyone in the room who didn't understand Ami's explaination finally had it dawn upon them.  
  
"So, we go into the well house and look for where the rip is??"Minako asked, "If so, then this is easier than I thought it would be!"  
  
"Possibly not. . . ."Ami said, sighing, "Minako, you remember when that old man said to stay away from the well house, right? Well, he and hs family must know of it, then. They probably keep it under watch as much as they can."  
  
"If you think the plan out carefully, you could probably sneak in at night, when everyone's asleep."Luna finally spoke.  
  
All heads turned to the furred feline that had been their guardian for what seemed like forever.  
  
"You actually want us to sneak onto someone else's property, Luna?"Usagi asked teasingly, "And I thought you were supposed to teach us some of those morals not to go into other people's yards. . . . "  
  
"This is a rescue mission, is it not?"Luna shot back, "If it isn't, then I wouldn't have dared suggested it!"  
  
With that outburst from the dark feline, it was decided. They would sneak into the well house that night, find out where the rip was, and see if they could go in, all the while praying Setsuna wouldn't sense their activities of messing with time.  
  
*******  
  
Michiru played with Hotaru's hair, attempting to find a style that looked right on the pale girl.  
  
It was a calm night at the resident mansion of the outer senshi, who were enjoying the peaceful evening in front of a nice, warm fire. It was one of those perfect nights, and nothing could possibly disturb the peace and quiet.  
  
"AHHHH!"  
  
Well, almost nothing.  
  
Haruka looked up from the magazine she was reading, wondering what Setsuna had screamed about from the kitchen. Sending a glance to Michiru, it was decided on who would go by that single look. Haruka to the rescue! Well, not really, but she just thought that to amuse herself whenever one of her house mates let out a piercing scream that could, quite possibly, make the population within a one-mile radius go deaf.  
  
Heading for the kitchen, she peered her head around the corner to see Setsuna, Time Staff in hand, standing atop a chair and pointing her giant key for a staff at a large. . .cockroach.  
  
"Setsuna, it's a bug. Get over it."Haruka gumbled, about to turn around and head back to the living room, but Setsuna stopped the blonde.  
  
"For your information, it isn't a bug, it's a rather large insect, anf it's gross!"Setsuna whimpered. jumping off of the chair and flying straight for the other woman (vaguely reminding Haruka of that movie, 'Children of the Corn' with those freaky kids flying about). Upon arrival to her destination, the Time Guardian cowered behind the blonde's back, of course, after whapping her upon the head for calling that horrible, 'gross' insect a normal, everday bug. This thing was a born killing machine! It would take over the universe, Setsuna knew it.  
  
It was another normal night at the mansion of the outer senshi. And it was very fortunate that a cockroach happened to distract the Guardian of Time, for it allowed the inner senshi to sneak into the well unnoticed.  
  
(Dang there goes the serious stuff, right out the window over there. See? It's lying on the lawn below. -_-;)  
  
*******  
  
"So, um, who goes first?"Usagi asked, peering around the well house, "Well, when we find the time rip, that is."  
  
"My computer says it's located down there. . . ."Ami said softly, pointing into the vast, dark depths of the well.  
  
"We have to jump down there??"Minako shuddered. "Count me out."  
  
"You can't back out now, unless you choose to stay out here and get caught."Ami reminded. It truly was much too late to back out, they had found out so much! It was only a matter of time until they would find Rei and the group would be a whole again.  
  
"I'll go first."Makoto volunteered.  
  
"You're a brave sould, Mako! I bow down to your mighty brave-ness."Minako said, doing a mock-bow to the tall brunette, who sighed and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Unless you choose to get me a crown, throne, and kingdom, then stop your groveling and so I can get this over with!"Makoto muttered darkly. "Otherwise, I promise you, I'll shove you into the well!"  
  
"Okay, okay!"Minako said, backing away, "Go on, jump into there! Good luck, hope you come back safe!"  
  
"Hey, what the he-"Makoto began, but Minako shoved the brunette into the well before she could finish. "Ack!!"  
  
"You act like such children!"Ami sighed, continuing to type furiously at her computer.  
  
"Um, guys?"Makoto's voice sounded out from the bottom of the well. "It didn't work, and since a cetain someone -I won't name any names- shoved me in, I landed flat on my butt! I'm going to kill!"  
  
Minako whimpered. She could almost feel herself being pummeled into the dirt. Heck, she might as well just toss herself onto the ground right now!  
  
Makoto's threat was empty, though, seeing as the brunette would never purposely injure any of her friends. After all, the ones she had now were the only real ones she'd ever had, because everyone would always start becoming scared of her because of rumors that stated she was a rogue who would beat anything that breathed into the ground if they crossed her path.  
  
Climbing out of the well, Makoto rubbed her sore behind.  
  
"Never do that again Mina. . ."Makoto grumbled, swatting at the blonde, who ducked with a small squeak just in time.  
  
With the fairly startling new revealtion on the fact that they couldn't go through the well (well, at lesat Makoto couldn't), Ami began running more scans on the worn out old thing.  
  
"Usagi, link arms with Minako and jump in, please."the blue-haired girl commanded.  
  
"W-why us?"Usagi whimpered slightly.  
  
"Well, I believe that if someone -or someones, in this case- with high enough energy levels jumps into the well, it will activate and send the jumper through time. Plus, if you can go through, then you both can come back out and Makoto and I can jump in with you two."  
  
"Well, okay. . . ."Usagi said, clambering onto the edge of the well and glancing into the darkness below hesitantly. "Boy, I want this to work and I don't all at the same time. . . . ."  
  
"Me too, Usa, me too."Minako said, gulping as she stared down into the well. "But oh well! I'm sure that it won't hurt if we end up in a pile at the bottom of that pit called a well!"  
  
Usagi sent a glare in her friend's direction, not liking the image of getting landed upon after falling onto hardened dirt. "I so get to land on top."  
  
"Aww, why?"  
  
" 'Cause I'm your princess and you can't let me get hurt."  
  
"Lame excuse, very lame excuse. Now, JUMP!"Minako said, shoving the other blonde into the well before grabbing ahold of her wrist and falling in after.  
  
Makoto peered into the well and her eyes widened as a blue hue started to emit from the bottom of the well. "Ami, it's working!"  
  
The hue faded, and the two blondes ended up in a pile at the bottom of the dark well, with Minako sitting on Usagi, who lay flat on her stomach, face buried within the dirt.  
  
Ami peered into the well. "Well, I was close enough! Makoto, you go in, with them, too. Both of you, climb out and try again with Mako!"  
  
The process was repeated, Makoto saying she was NOT going to let herself end up at the bottom of the pile if it didn't work, and the same blue hue, this time a bit brighter, shone out from the bottom of the well. Somewho, Usagi ended up half-stuck and half-unstuck in the ground, with only her torso sticking out.  
  
"Ami, FIX THIS!"she screeched, not liking the idea of having her legs stuck in one time era and her torso in another.  
  
"I am, I am!"Ami replied, finaly sticking her computer into her pocket and jumping into the well herself, hoping that this time, they would go through the well.  
  
The blue hue brightened considerably, and, if you were to have stood outside of the well house, you would have seen a bright blue light emit from the cracks between the wooden structure before all things became dark again.  
  
*******  
  
*bows* There you go! Here was chapter thirteen for all of you! I hope you enjoyed it. Whoooo, I think those Reeses I had earlier are starting to make me a bit. . ..hypped up. O_o;  
  
Well, tune in next chapter, same time, same place! (Gee, how cheesy did that sound?) The fun's just beginning, the plot's only beginning to unfold, and will we ever hit the climax of the story?! Well, we will, but not for a while, I don't think. . . . . 


End file.
